What Is Monroe Doctrine? Trump Invokes 200-Year-Old Proclamation To Justify Maduro's Capture

Last Updated:January 05, 2026, 16:24 IST

US President Donald Trump invoked the Monroe Doctrine of 1823 to justify the audacious US military operation to attack Venezuela and capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

US President Donald Trump justified the Venezuela operation by invoking the Monroe Doctrine. (AFP photo)

US President Donald Trump triggered a furious debate across the world over international norms and sovereignty with an audacious mission to enter Venezuelan territory and capture President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores from their bedroom, in a dramatic escalation of tensions amid Washington’s drug-related charges against Caracas.

The operation went beyond bringing an indicted individual to the US on narco-terrorism charges. What intensified scrutiny over the legality of the US action was Trump’s declaration that Washington would “run" Venezuela until a “safe, proper and judicious transition", while also strongly hinting at reclaiming Venezuela’s oil reserves.

Trump invoked the Monroe Doctrine of 1823, when former US President James Monroe laid the foundation of the United States calling the shots in the region. He also went ahead to suggest an updated version of it that could be called the “Don-roe Doctrine."

What Did Trump Say?

Speaking after the US operation on January 3, Trump described the Monroe Doctrine as a long-standing foreign policy of America for over 200 years. He said the military operation in Venezuela was done in alignment with the doctrine and more, alleging that Venezuela was “hosting foreign adversaries" and “acquiring offensive weapons".

“All of these actions were in gross violation of the core principles of American foreign policy, dating back more than two centuries," he said. “All the way back, dated to the Monroe Doctrine. And the Monroe Doctrine is a big deal, but we’ve superseded it by a lot, by a real lot.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."

The dramatic intervention in Caracas was condemned at home and abroad as the most dangerous example of US imperialism since the invasion of Iraq in 2003, particularly after former US Secretary of State John Kerry had said a decade ago that the “era of the Monroe Doctrine is over."

What Is The Monroe Doctrine?

The doctrine formulated by President James Monroe in 1823 has shaped American foreign policy for more than two centuries. It was initially adopted to halt European meddling in the Western Hemisphere, but has been used by subsequent presidents to justify US intervention.

In his address to the US Congress, Monroe articulated the doctrine to halt European colonisation or other interference in independent nations of the Western Hemisphere. In exchange, the United States pledged to avoid involvement in European wars and internal matters. At the time, many Latin American nations had only recently won independence from European colonial powers.

Monroe wanted to prevent Europe from reclaiming control in the region and to assert US influence. It framed South and Central America as a strategic “backyard" for the United States. European leaders initially showed little interest in the proclamation, but over the next two centuries, the Monroe Doctrine was repeatedly invoked to justify US military interventions in Latin America.

In 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt introduced the “Roosevelt Corollary," which asserted that the United States had the right to intervene in the Americas under certain circumstances, which was used to justify US interventions in Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic in the 20th century.

The Cold War-era saw the Monroe Doctrine invoked as a defence against communism, such as the US demand in 1962 that Soviet missiles be withdrawn from Cuba, as well as the Reagan administration’s opposition to the Sandinista government in Nicaragua.

Trump’s Doctrine?

By invoking the Monroe Doctrine, Trump said “American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again" under the new national security strategy. “We want to surround ourselves with good neighbours, we want to surround ourselves with stability, and we want to surround ourselves with energy," he said.

“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 home region," he added.

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