Trump tears up Obama-era Latin American policy with renewal of Monroe Doctrine
President Donald Trump and his administration are reviving the Monroe Doctrine – more than a decade after former President Barack Obama’s Secretary of State John Kerry said the centuries-old policy...
By Fox News · Fox News
President Donald Trump and his administration are reviving the Monroe Doctrine – more than a decade after former President Barack Obama ’s Secretary of State John Kerry said the centuries-old policy was dead. The restoration of the Monroe Doctrine, which sought to limit European influence in Latin America and to protect U.S. influence in the region, comes as the Trump administration released its National Security Strategy this month that redirects U.S. attention to the Western Hemisphere in an intentional effort to better prioritize protecting the U.S. homeland amid the Trump administration's crusade against the influx of drugs into the U.S. from Latin America. "President Trump has prioritized enforcing the Monroe Doctrine unlike any other President in decades," White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "He was elected on his promise to eliminate the scourge of drug deaths in our country, including his commitment to secure the southern border and take on the cartels. He has delivered on both fronts by stopping the flow of drugs by land and by sea." TRUMP SAYS US SEIZES MASSIVE VENEZUELAN OIL TANKER AS SHOWDOWN WITH MADURO ERUPTS INTO NEW PHASE "The President will continue to put Americans first by securing our Hemisphere, protecting our homeland, and striking designated narcoterrorists bringing deadly poison to our shores, just as he was elected to do," Kelly said. The Monroe Doctrine, first introduced in 1823 by then-President James Monroe, specifically cautioned European nations against further colonization in Central and South America. Later, it was used to justify U.S. actions in the region as an "international police power" under former President Theodore Roosevelt, according to the National Archives. The Trump administration’s approach is a stark departure from precedent laid out during the Obama administration , where Kerry ripped the longstanding policy to shreds. Then, Kerry claimed that the policy wasn’t necessary as the…