In the days since U.S. special operations forces plucked Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro from his hideout on a Venezuelan military base, a theme has percolated from the pens of foreign policy elites: The Trump administration’s actions demonstrate that Washington is not only trying to enforce U.S. hegemony in the Western Hemisphere but is also ushering in a world where regions are carved up between the great powers. As author Anne Applebaum wrote in The Atlantic on Monday, “Trump’s pursuit of an illusory sphere of influence is unlikely to bring us peace or prosperity—any more than the invasion of Ukraine brought peace and prosperity to Russians—and this might become clear sooner than anyone expects.”
But is Trump really interested in adopting a spheres-of-influence doctrine as these critics proclaim? No.
On the surface, you can understand why some might assume that Trump is open to sitting down with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping to divvy up the world’s resources. After all, the Trump administration has loudly declared the Western Hemisphere as America’s to dominate. The 2025 U.S. National Security Strategy placed the Western Hemisphere on top of the list of regions where U.S. power and influence will be used most aggressively. The U.S. State Department was unequivocal on this point: “This is OUR Hemisphere, and President Trump will not allow our security to be threatened.” Trump himself has referred to the Monroe Doctrine repeatedly, which suggests that the days when the United States was willing to tolerate non-hemispheric powers in Latin America are over. “American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again,” Trump told reporters after Maduro was captured. “Won’t happen.”
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