Trump throws shade at the Americas on Day 1

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/02/2025 (193 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

What was U.S. President Donald Trump thinking? Oh, yes, he wasn’t.

During a rather strange, fact-challenged press availability post-inauguration, and while signing a slew of executive orders, Trump blurted out: “We don’t need them.” The “them,” of course, are the governments in Latin America — you know, the ones that are strategically placed in the so-called U.S. “backyard.”

When asked specifically about his policy toward countries in the Americas, he couldn’t have been more clear. “They need us much more than we need them. They need us — everybody needs us,” Trump explained.

I see.

But is that really true? And, besides, is that any way to treat your neighbours? I really don’t think so.

You see, Trump doesn’t understand that the U.S. needs friends and allies in Latin America and the wider world — or diplomatic assets, if you will. He needs other governments to carry some of the load, to work in concert with the U.S. in tackling many of the transnational problems facing the globe and for other world leaders to help Washington out when it needs a favour or two.

Let’s be honest: it’s hard to get another government to do something for you when you dismiss them as unimportant and vassal-like. Yes, the U.S. is still the dominant world power, though it does have competitors, but it alone cannot resolve the drug crisis, population movements and pressing environmental challenges.

Trump may very well espouse a transactional U.S. foreign policy approach, but it takes two to tango. And that’s a problem for Trump because many of the leaders in Latin America are left-leaning and no fans of him. They will not be intimidated by threats of military invasion, trade sanctions or political isolation.

It should also be said that many in Latin America no doubt viewed Trump’s inaugural address as reminiscent of 20th century U.S. imperialism, the 1823 Monroe Doctrine (which confirmed Washington’s hegemonic role in the Americas) and “gunboat diplomacy.” Any talk of “expanding territory,” “taking back” the Panama Canal, musing about “the Gulf of America” and “manifest destiny” must have sent shivers down the spines of many political leaders in the region.

More importantly, governments in Latin America have their own diplomatic cards to play. Trump can talk all he wants about stopping the migrant “invasion,” closing the southern border and initiating a mass deportation campaign. But he doesn’t actually control the flow of migrants streaming toward the U.S. border in search of the “American dream.”

It is also true that not every country in Latin America will be open to receiving future deportees from the U.S. And if Trump is not more careful with his words, the list of governments in the region willing to accept the returning migrants will grow shorter and shorter.

What do you think that the Mexicans are saying to themselves right now? After signing an executive order declaring that Mexico’s drug cartels are “foreign terrorist organizations,” is Trump thinking about sending U.S. Special Forces across the border to take out the powerful narco traffickers? I’m sure that Mexico’s new president, Claudia Sheinbaum, is not amused.

It wouldn’t surprise me if Mexico chose to play its powerful migration card. Indeed, that could mean that Trump’s resuscitation of his previous “remain in Mexico” program could go up in smoke. It is also up to Mexico City to decide whether it will accept migrants picked up in the U.S., deported and turned over to the Mexican authorities to fend for themselves.

Furthermore, if Trump hopes to punish and further isolate leftist governments in Cuba, Nicaragua, Bolivia and Venezuela he may have to rethink those plans. Without willing friends and partners in the region, any serious attempt at utilizing “maximum pressure” will inevitably founder.

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You can be certain that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio got an earful during his recent six-day, whistle-stop tour of Central America and the Dominican Republic. He has a tall task ahead of him to deter migrants from heading toward the U.S.-Mexico border and to diminish China’s influence in the region.

In fact, I’m sure that China is now looking to capitalize on Trump’s counterproductive choice of words. Would you be shocked if Beijing said to governments in the region: “Well, if Trump doesn’t need you, China’s Xi Jinping does.” And could you blame countries in the region for thinking that China might serve as a useful counterweight to Trump’s imperialist tendencies?

So I’m doubtful, quite frankly, that government leaders and the people of Latin America will view Trump as a “peacemaker and unifier.” They are more likely to see him as a 21st century “speak softly (or gruffly) and carry a big stick” Teddy Roosevelt type.

Unfortunately, Trump’s dumpster fire will now have to be doused by Rubio. I certainly don’t envy him when it comes to charting an intelligent, Trump-approved Latin America policy approach. He definitely has his work cut out for him in the coming years.

Peter McKenna is professor of political science at the University of Prince Edward Island in Charlottetown.