Monroe Doctrine: How it has shaped US foreign policy for 2 centuries — until Trump

In detailing the United States military action that led to the arrest of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, President Donald Trump referenced the Monroe Doctrine, a principle that has shaped American foreign policy for two centuries.

Formulated by President James Monroe, the doctrine was originally created to oppose European interference in the Western Hemisphere. Since then, it has been repeatedly invoked by subsequent presidents to justify US interventions in the region.

This Saturday (4), the doctrine of the fifth president of the United States was cited by the 47th as partial justification for the capture of a foreign leader to face criminal charges in the United States. Trump even joked that some now call it the “Don-roe Doctrine.”

Political scientists are analyzing the historical use of the Monroe Doctrine and drawing connections to how the Trump administration seeks to apply it to current foreign policy, including the Republican president’s declaration that Washington would “manage” Venezuela until a suitable replacement for Maduro is established.

What is the Monroe Doctrine?

Articulated in Monroe’s speech to Congress in 1823, the doctrine was intended to ward off European colonization or other interference with independent nations in the Western Hemisphere. In return, the US also agreed to stay out of European wars and internal affairs.

At the time, many Latin American countries had just gained independence from European empires. Monroe wanted both to prevent Europe from regaining control and to assert US influence in the hemisphere.

Over the centuries, Venezuela has played a central role in this context, according to Jay Sexton, a history professor at the University of Missouri.

“Historically, Venezuela has been the pretext or trigger for many developments of the Monroe Doctrine,” said Sexton, author of , citing examples from the late 19th century to the first Trump administration.

“Since the 19th century, Venezuela has been a divided and conflictual country, with difficult relations with foreign powers and which has also sought alliances with rivals of the United States.”

The Roosevelt Corollary and “Big Stick” diplomacy

Initially, European leaders paid little attention to the proclamation, but the Monroe Doctrine was invoked over the next two centuries to justify U.S. military interventions in Latin America.

The first direct challenge came after France installed Emperor Maximilian in Mexico in the 1860s. After the end of the American Civil War, France gave in to US pressure and withdrew.

In 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt argued that the US should intervene in unstable Latin American countries, creating the so-called Roosevelt Corollary. This justification has been used on several occasions, including supporting Panama’s secession from Colombia, which granted the US control of the Panama Canal Zone.

During the Cold War, the Monroe Doctrine was used as a defense against communism, as in the 1962 US demand that Soviet missiles be removed from Cuba, and in the Reagan administration’s opposition to the Sandinista government in Nicaragua.

Gretchen Murphy, a professor at the University of Texas, described Trump’s reference to the doctrine as in line with its use by his predecessors, including Roosevelt, who “claimed that the Monroe Doctrine could be extended to justify interventions that, rather than defending Latin American nations from European intervention, policed ​​them to ensure that their governments acted in accordance with U.S. commercial and strategic interests.”

“Trump is following this familiar pattern — citing the Monroe Doctrine to legitimize interventions that undermine real democracy and serve all kinds of interests, including business interests,” said Murphy, author of .

What did Trump say about the Monroe Doctrine?

Trump asserted that Venezuela, under Maduro, was “increasingly welcoming foreign adversaries into our region and acquiring threatening offensive weapons that could endanger U.S. interests.” He called these actions “a gross violation of central principles of American foreign policy that date back more than two centuries.”

But Trump added: “Under our new national security strategy, American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again.”

“We want to surround ourselves with good neighbors, we want to surround ourselves with stability and we want to surround ourselves with energy,” Trump said. “We have tremendous energy in that country. It’s very important to protect it. We need that for ourselves. We need that for the world.”

The Trump Corollary?

Asked on Saturday about how the US administration in a country aligned with his “America First” mentality, Trump defended the measure as something that, like the origin of the Monroe Doctrine, was aimed at strengthening the United States itself.

The administration’s national security strategy references a “Trump Corollary” to the Monroe Doctrine, intended to “restore American pre-eminence in the Western Hemisphere.”

“For decades, other administrations have neglected or even contributed to these growing security threats in the Western Hemisphere. Under the Trump administration, we are reasserting American power in a very powerful way in our region,” Trump said.

Sexton said the military operation to capture Maduro — and possible prolonged U.S. involvement in Venezuela — could cause another split among supporters of Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement, similar to what occurred after the government’s attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities last year.

“This isn’t just a quick operation, like in Iran a few months ago, where we launched missiles and then moved on. This could potentially be a big problem and contradict the government’s policies of withdrawing from endless wars — and there are a lot of isolationists within the MAGA coalition,” Sexton said.