President Trump’s Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Sunday was interviewed by Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation. Hegseth was asked, “Given that the US military just carried out this operation in there (Venezuela), should Americans understand that the US will remain militarily involved in Venezuela?… Should they expect similar operations in places like Ecuador and Guatemala, where the U.S. is working with their governments?”
Hegseth replied, “Yes they should. It’s called the America’s Counter Cartel Coalition, A triple C. And we’re forming it with partner governments all around Central and South America to go and defeat and destroy foreign terrorist organizations’ drug cartels.”
He added, “It’s an incredible reinforcement of the Monroe Doctrine, now called the Donroe Doctrine,” which he described as “a beautiful military thing to behold.”
BRENNAN: Given that the US military just carried out this operation in Venezuela, should Americans understand that the US will remain militarily involved there? Should they expect similar operations in places like Ecuador and Guatemala?
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 14, 2026
HEGSETH: Yes they should. It's an… pic.twitter.com/lReaThMLcD
“The Donroe Doctrine” is a portmanteau of Donald Trump and the Monroe Doctrine; it was featured on the cover of The New York Post in January 2025 to describe Trump’s second-term foreign policy in the Western Hemisphere.
Elements of the policy, according to the Post, include taking over Greenland and the Panama Canal, turning Canada into the 51st State, and renaming the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America.
It’s worth revisiting this NY Post cover from January 8, 2025 (a year ago), now that Trump is invoking the name “The Donroe Doctrine” to describe his plans. pic.twitter.com/QkiCBiKpFh
— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) January 3, 2026
Several on X are responding to Hegseth’s use of the phrase Donroe Doctrine with criticism, including liberal influencer Joanne Carducci, who replied, “He says Donroe doctrine with a straight face” with a series of laughing-crying emojis.
Marty Golingan (the former OAN producer who was fired in 2021 after telling The New York Times he thought “many of OAN’s stories are not true”) also replied: “U.S. imperialism aside, ‘Donroe doctrine’ is the dumbest [expletive] I’ve ever heard.”
It’s not the first time Hegseth has referred to the Donroe Doctrine, as seen below in March with a smiling President Trump by his side at a press conference in Doral, Florida.
Hegseth: For far too long, our country's gaze was only on borders in far-flung places, not our own border, not our own hemisphere, not the western hemisphere. President Trump has established the Trump corollary of the Monroe doctrine, the Donroe Doctrine and the War Department is… pic.twitter.com/xECLzetu8I
— Acyn (@Acyn) March 7, 2026
