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President Donald Trump’s threat to end all aid to Colombia marks the latest stage in his approach to Latin America that has included renaming the Gulf of Mexico, pushing for control of the Panama Canal and talking tough on Venezuela. Trump’s Truth Social post branding Colombian President Gustavo Petro an “illegal drug leader,” angered Bogota and showed that even American allies are not immune to the president’s vitriol. Amid tariffs, hardline immigration enforcement and the rise of Chinese economic influence in the region, Trump’s approach to Latin America is tied to personal and ideological alignment rather than consistent policy, experts have told Newsweek. “His vision of Latin America is very much in the Monroe Doctrine which is not a very popular doctrine in Latin America, having given license to numerous interventions,” said Christopher Sabatini, senior research fellow for Latin America, U.S. and the Americas Program at think tank Chatham House, referring to U.S. dominance of the Western Hemisphere. “But it’s beyond that too—it’s partisan and transactional,” he told Newsweek. President Donald Trump’s warning to Colombia marks the latest stage in his approach to Latin America. Photo illustration by Newsweek Courting The Right-Wing In Latin America, Trump has sided with the right, favoring leaders like Javier Milei in Argentina and Nayib Bukele in El Salvador. The Trump administration also gave Argentina a $20 billion bailout that prompted criticism amid U.S. government layoffs and a shutdown. Bukele in El Salvador got a White House visit and his government was rewarded for holding deportees. Trump has also targeted left-wing governments, such as Colombia’s and Brazil’s, under Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. He slapped 50 percent levies on Brazil citing his support for its former far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, who is facing charges for an alleged coup attempt. “Trump has shown a specific preference for right-wing leaders, especially populist right-wing leaders, and has not shied away from punishing left-wing leaders,” said Sabatini. But the political landscape in Latin America could fall further in Trump’s favor during his second term, with the possibility of a conservative candidate winning in Colombia, whose incumbent the U.S. president has picked a fight with. Peru’s next presidential election in 2026 could see victory for Rafael Lopez Arriaga, a right-wing candidate who is “cut from the same cloth as Trump,” said Sabatini, adding, “in many ways, things are falling in line with Trump’s own personal brand of politics.” Sabatini said that former President Ronald Reagan’s doctrine included intervening on behalf of and supporting military governments with the intention of stopping the spread of communism. Trump’s policy “is about projecting his ‘make America, make Argentina, make Brazil great again’ personal vision of politics.” Marcus de Matos, a Latin America expert from Brunel Law School in London, told Newsweek he did not believe that Trump’s policies for the region were new. “In fact, I believe these policies try to mimic older American doctrines for the region, which is somehow coherent with his electoral campaign slogan, ‘Make America Great Again.’” Renaming the Gulf of Mexico is an example of the symbolic approach to Latin America and imposing sanctions against the Brazilian Supreme justice— for sentencing Bolsonaro was another, de Matos said. When trade and political interests are vested with symbolism and ideology and seem to lack predictability, this puts the U.S. in a good position to negotiate, because it makes it harder for foreign diplomats to see clearly what they want, de Matos said. “As Trump considers himself as an experienced and prime negotiator, this strategy might play well for him.” President Donald Trump greets Argentinian President Javier Milei at the White House in Washington, D.C.,. on October 14, 2025. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images) Targeting Venezuela The Trump administration has denied an Associated Press report that said the U.S. military flew a pair of B-1 Lancer bombers from Texas up to the coast of Venezuela on Thursday, days after American bombers made a similar journey for a training exercise to simulate an attack. A large U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean Sea off the coast of Venezuela has raised speculation that Trump could try to topple Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who faces charges of narcoterrorism in the U.S that he rejects. The Trump administration, like those in most democratic countries including in Latin America, have deemed that last year’s election that Maduro claimed to have won was neither free, nor fair. Trump said he had authorized the Central Intel...
