BLUF: Foreign Policy Under Trump 2.0

We’re just three weeks into Trump 2.0 and it’s already apparent that the Western Hemisphere will play a central role in the administration’s foreign policy agenda. Between trade tensions with Canada and Mexico, disputes over the Panama canal, overtures to buy Greenland, and quarrels with the President of Colombia, the Trump administration's first month has been dominated by a slice of the world that has been left largely overlooked in recent political memory.

Signaling a renewed focus on the Western Hemisphere, and making his maiden international voyage as Secretary of State, Marco Rubio traveled across the Americas to Panama and El Salvador while Richard Grenell, envoy for special missions, simultaneously met with Nicolas Maduro, the President of Venezuela. Since these missions we have seen the return of six American hostages from Venezuela, an offer from El Salvador to house deported migrants and even American criminals, and a statement from the President from Panama announcing the nation’s intention to not renew its membership of China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

While America has focused on places further afield like the Middle East and Asia in recent years, our own backyard has slowly slipped away. China has greatly expanded its political and economic influence in Central and South America since the turn of the millennium, all while regional states like Brazil have stepped up to try and fill the leadership gap left in America’s absence.

With President Trump’s two main priorities remaining migration and drug trafficking, recentering our foreign policy priorities closer to home is a logical next step to solving this puzzle. However, regaining America’s role at the center of hemispheric affairs will be more difficult than many anticipate, with decades of neglect posing a host of new questions to answer.

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