President Donald Trump is now keeping at arm’s length a phrase he mentioned while announcing how the U.S. would “run” Venezuela after America’s abduction of the South American country’s president.
On Thursday, Fox News host Sean Hannity asked Trump about the term “Donroe doctrine,” a play on the Monroe Doctrine, former President James Monroe’s 1823 policy that stated the U.S. would consider any meddling in the Americas by European nations a hostile act.
“Are you calling it the ‘Donroe doctrine?’“ Hannity asked, after giving his own explanation of the policy.
“Well, they call it the ‘Donroe’—I didn’t call it that, but they’re calling it. It’s the Monroe Doctrine, but now they call it the ‘Donroe doctrine,’ which is basically safety for this part of world,“ Trump, 79, said.
“Yeah, I mean, it’s pretty simple. We don’t want drugs pouring into our country,” the president added. “We don’t want bad people coming into our country like happened for four years under Biden, who was a disgrace.”
Shortly after the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, Trump—unprompted—announced that his plans for the country were part of the “Donroe doctrine.”
“The Monroe Doctrine is a big deal, but we’ve superseded it by a lot. By a real lot. They now call it the ‘Donroe Doctrine,’” Trump claimed at a Mar-a-Lago press conference. “American dominance in the western hemisphere will never be questioned again.”
A Nov. 2025 National Security Strategy document described the “Trump Corollary” to the Monroe Doctrine, though the term “Donroe Doctrine” wasn’t used.
The White House did not immediately respond to the Daily Beast’s request for comment.
Since the military operation in Caracas, Trump has spoken about potential U.S. involvement in the internal affairs of other countries, including Cuba, Colombia, Mexico, and Greenland.
“Cuba is not doing very well right now,” Trump said Saturday. “That system has not been a very good one for Cuba. The people there have suffered for many, many years. And I think Cuba is going to be something we’ll end up talking about, because Cuba is a failing nation right now, a very badly failing nation.”
“Something’s going to have to be done with Mexico,” he told Fox News later that morning, before threatening the president of Colombia.
“I stick by my first statement. He’s making cocaine,” Trump said of Colombian President Gustavo Petro. “They’re sending it into the United States, so he does have to watch his a–.”
As for Greenland, which is considered part of North America despite being a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark, Trump has at different times suggested purchasing the country, paying off its citizens, or a military invasion.
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