In detailing the U.S. military action that led to the arrest of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, President Donald Trump referenced the Monroe Doctrine, a maxim that has shaped American foreign policy for two centuries.
The doctrine formulated by President James Monroe was originally aimed at opposing European meddling in the Western Hemisphere. It has since been invoked repeatedly by subsequent presidents angling to justify U.S. intervention in the region.
On Saturday, the consequential doctrine of America’s fifth president was cited by the 47th president as partial justification for the capture of a foreign leader to face criminal charges in the United States. Trump even quipped that some now called it “the Don-roe Doctrine.”
Political scientists are now looking back on the use of the Monroe Doctrine through history and drawing connections to how the Trump administration is seeking to apply it to current foreign policy, including the Republican president’s assertion that Washington would “run” Venezuela until a suitable replacement for Maduro was in place,