US President Donald Trump's second term is being shaped by his foreign policy ambitions.
He made his threats to Venezuela come true, arresting its president, Nicolas Maduro, and his wife in their heavily fortified compound in Caracas during a dramatic night raid.
When describing this operation, Trump dusted off the 1823 Monroe Doctrine and its promise of American supremacy in the Western Hemisphere, renaming it the “Donro Doctrine.”
Here are a few warnings he has issued in recent days to other countries in the orbit of Washington's interests.
Grenland
The US already has a military base in Greenland - Sputnik Space Base - but Trump wants the entire island.
"We need Greenland from a national security standpoint," he told reporters, adding that the region is "full of Russian and Chinese ships that are everywhere."
The huge Arctic island, part of the Kingdom of Denmark, is located about 3.200 kilometers northeast of the United States.
It is rich in rare earth minerals, which are key to the production of smartphones, electric vehicles, and military machinery.
China's production of rare earth minerals currently far surpasses that of the US.
Greenland also occupies a key strategic location in the North Atlantic, providing access to the increasingly important Arctic Circle.
As the polar ice melts in the coming years, new waterways are expected to open up.
Greenland Prime Minister Jens Frederik Nielsen responded to Trump by describing the idea of American control over the island as a "fantasy."
"Enough of the pressure. Enough of the insinuations. Enough of the annexation fantasies."
"We are open to dialogue. We are open to talks. But it must happen through appropriate channels and with respect for international law," he said.
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- Why Trump wants Greenland and what Greenlanders think about it
Kolumbija
Just hours after the operation in Venezuela, Trump warned Colombian President Gustavo Pedro to "watch what he's doing."
Venezuela's neighbor to the west, Colombia is home to significant oil reserves and is a major producer of gold, silver, emeralds, platinum, and coal.
It is also a key hub for regional drug trafficking, mainly cocaine.
Since America began targeting ships in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific in September, saying, without evidence, that they were transporting drugs, Trump has found himself in an increasingly aggressive dispute with the country's leftist president.
The US imposed sanctions on Petra in October, saying it was allowing cartels to "flourish".
Speaking from Air Force One on January 4, Trump said that Colombia is run by "a sick man who loves to make cocaine and sell it to the United States of America."
"They won't be doing that for very long," he said.
Asked if the US would carry out an operation targeting Colombia, Trump replied: "Sounds good to me."
Historically, Colombia has been a close ally of Washington's war on drugs, receiving hundreds of millions of dollars a year in military aid to fight the cartels.
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Iran
Iran is currently facing mass anti-government protests, and Trump warned overnight that authorities there would be "hit very hard" if more protesters were killed.
"We are monitoring what is happening very closely.
"If they start killing people like they did in the past, I think the United States of America will hit them very hard," he told reporters on Air Force One.
Iran theoretically does not fall within the framework defined in the "Donro Doctrine", but Trump has nevertheless previously threatened the Iranian regime with further action, after hit its nuclear facilities last year.
The strikes came after Israel launched a massive operation aimed at decapitating Iran's nuclear weapons capability, culminating in The 12-day conflict between Israel and Iran.
At a meeting at Mar-a-Lago between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week, Iran was said to be at the top of their agenda.
US media also reported that Netanyahu raised the issue of potential new strikes on Iran in 2026.
Watch the video: Why America and Iran are bitter enemies
Mexico
Trump's rise to power in 2016 was defined by his calls to "build a wall" along the southern border with Mexico.
On his first day back in office in 2025, he signed an executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico the "Gulf of the Americas."
He often claims that Mexican authorities are not doing enough to stop the flow of drugs or illegal immigrants into the United States.
On January 4, Trump said that drugs were "flowing" through Mexico and that "we're going to have to do something about it," adding that the cartels there were "very powerful."
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has publicly rejected the possibility of any US military action on Mexican soil.
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Cuba
This island country, just 145 kilometers south of Florida, has been under US sanctions since the early 1960s.
It maintained close relations with Nicolás Maduro's Venezuela.
Trump suggested on Sunday that US military intervention was not needed because Cuba was "ready to fall."
"I don't think any action is necessary," he said.
"It looks like she's definitely falling."
"I don't know if it will last, but Cuba has no income right now," he added.
"They got all their income from Venezuela, from Venezuelan oil."
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, has long called for regime change in Cuba.
"When the president speaks, you better take him seriously."
"If I lived in Havana, and if I were in government, I would be worried - at least a little," Rubio told reporters on January 3.
Watch the video: Why superpowers are racing for control of the Arctic
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