DORAL, Fla. — President Donald Trump is convening Latin American leaders Saturday at his Miami-area golf club as his administration tries to reorient U.S. foreign policy toward the Western Hemisphere while major crises rage abroad.
Branded the “Shield of the Americas” summit, the meeting comes two months after a U.S. military operation captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife on drug-conspiracy charges and one week after the U.S. and Israel launched a war on Iran that has killed hundreds, rattled markets and destabilized the Middle East.
Trump’s time with regional heads will be short: he is also scheduled to fly to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware for the dignified transfer of six U.S. troops killed in a drone strike on a Kuwaiti command center. Still, the summit is intended to draw attention back to the hemisphere and spotlight a renewed U.S. push against what the administration frames as growing Chinese influence in the region.
Speaking to regional defense ministers and officials gathered in Florida for drug-cartel discussions, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth criticized previous policy choices, saying leaders had focused on “every other theater and every other border in the world except our own,” and that elites had reduced U.S. presence in the hemisphere.
Confirmed attendees at Trump National Doral Miami include the leaders of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guyana, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay and Trinidad and Tobago. The resort is also scheduled to host the Group of 20 summit later this year.
The smaller, conservative-aligned meeting grew out of the failed 10th Summit of the Americas, which was canceled amid last year’s U.S. military buildup off Venezuela. Under White House pressure, the Dominican Republic had barred Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela from the original summit; left-leaning leaders in Colombia and Mexico threatened to withdraw in protest, and with no firm commitment from Trump to attend, Dominican President Luis Abinader postponed that event, citing “deep differences.”
The “Shield” label reflects a more nationalist, “America First” regional strategy that leans on robust U.S. military and intelligence engagement not seen in the hemisphere since the end of the Cold War. Notable absences at the Doral gathering include the region’s two largest powers, Brazil and Mexico, as well as Colombia, a longtime U.S. anti-narcotics partner.
Richard Feinberg, who helped plan the first Summit of the Americas in 1994, contrasted the two approaches: the original summit, with 34 nations and a negotiated agenda around regional competitiveness, projected inclusion and optimism, while the hastily convened “Shield” mini-summit suggests a defensive posture centered on a single dominant actor.
Countering China has become a central theme of Trump’s regional policy. The administration’s national security strategy frames a “Trump Corollary” to the Monroe Doctrine targeting Chinese infrastructure projects, military ties and investments in resource sectors across Latin America. The U.S. has urged Panama to quit China’s Belt and Road Initiative and has scrutinized long-term port contracts controlled by a Hong Kong-based firm amid blunt warnings about safeguarding U.S. interests in the Panama Canal.
The Maduro operation and Trump’s vow to “run” Venezuela are additional pressure points: disrupting Venezuelan oil shipments could affect China, which has been a major buyer of Venezuelan crude. Trump is slated to travel to Beijing later this month to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Analysts note many Latin American governments have pragmatic reasons to maintain ties with China. Beijing’s trade-focused diplomacy offers financing and infrastructure to countries facing poverty and development shortfalls, while the U.S. has reduced foreign assistance and pursued tough immigration and enforcement policies that are unpopular across much of the region. “The U.S. is offering the region tariffs, deportations and militarization whereas China is offering trade and investment,” said Kevin Gallagher of Boston University. He said regional leaders are likely to remain neutral and hedge to leverage U.S.-China rivalry to their advantage.
Ahead of the summit, Trump named Kristi Noem, recently removed as Homeland Security secretary, as his special envoy for the Shield of the Americas. Noem said the president would announce “a big agreement” focused on targeting cartels and drug trafficking across the hemisphere.