Political Pistachio

By Douglas V. Gibbs

President George Washington warned in his 1796 Farewell Address about the danger of foreign entanglements.  He believed it was not in the best interest of the fledgling country to engage in permanent alliances with foreign powers since those commitments could drag America into costly wars and compromise our independence.  He urged America to remain free to make decisions based on its own interests rather than be bound by the rivalries of Europe.  The United States’ position was fragile, after all, not only because this was still a developing country, but because we were surrounded by the holdings of powerful European empires.  Washington believed that any permanent alliances or other entanglements could drag America into conflicts not of her own making.  In short, he desired that we avoid treaties with foreign nations because they could force America into wars that did not serve its interests.  By steering clear of European rivalries, the U.S. could remain politically and economically independent.  That is not to say he opposed foreign relations.  Temporary alliances, especially during times of emergency, were acceptable.  It was longer-term commitments that he believed limited freedom of action.

The key component in all of Washington’s thinking was “America’s Interests.” 

The United States lacked a strong military at the time, so foreign wars would have been disastrous.  He believed that the best way to preserve the unity of the states and the stability of the union the country needed to focus on domestic growth.  This is not to say that Washington believed in a weak military, or that we should never engage in global power struggles if necessary.  He also said, “To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace.”

President Washington’s peace-through-strength line was delivered during his First Annual Address to Congress, January 8, 1790.  While he believed we should avoid foreign entanglements, he also urged the need for a strong defense policy.  Having fought in the Revolutionary War, he understood the dangers of relying on a weak, part-time militia.  America needed to be strong, and able to protect its people and put America First. 

Washington was not advocating for constant warfare, but rather for readiness as a safeguard because military preparedness discourages conflict because adversaries respect strength. 

George Washington’s counsel shaped U.S. foreign policy for over a century.  When France and Britain went to war against each other, President John Adams followed Washington’s advise and not only refused to get involved, but even disallowed any statements from the U.S. Government that may be construed as giving favor to one nation over the other during the conflict.  While Vice President Thomas Jefferson called for the U.S. to take sides, Adams refused to do so.  When Jefferson became elected President, he kept America out of the wars in Europe, only engaging in a conflict with the Islamic caliphate on the Barbary Coast whose sea-going vessels were raiding American ships on American trade routes and taking American Sailors hostage to serve as slaves. 

James Madison, the fourth President of the United States, after the War of 1812, sought to bring America back to its normal path of remaining focused on domestic concerns.  During his presidency issues of trade restrictions, maritime rights and defending U.S. sovereignty dominated his attention.  During that same time, Latin America began entering into its own revolutionary era.  The Latin American independence movements began in earnest during the 1810s, right in the middle of Madison’s presidency.  These revolutions were inspired by Enlightenment ideals, the American Revolution, and the weakening of Spain due to Napoleon’s invasion of Europe. 

While Madison, though he sympathized with the independence movements, was cautious, it was James Monroe who tied U.S. policy to New World independence through the Monroe Doctrine. 

The wave of revolutions and declarations of independence surging throughout the New World by 1823 had led to most of Spain’s colonies in Latin America to achieve independence.  Watching what was going on, President Monroe declared The Monroe Doctrine in a speech on December 2, 1823.  It was a bold statement of American foreign policy, asserting that the Western Hemisphere was off-limits to European colonization or interference.

The Monroe Doctrine was comprised of three principles:

•           The Americas were no longer open to European colonization (an anti-colonialism position that mirrored the anti-colonialism actions of the American Revolution).

•           Any European interference in the Western Hemisphere would be considered hostile to U.S. interests.

•           The U.S. would not meddle in European affairs.

Though the U.S. Navy was small and America lacked the military might to enforce these claims, Monroe believed the doctrine was vital as a political warning. Britain’s Royal Navy, which also opposed renewed colonization, provided an informal enforcement mechanism, giving Monroe’s words weight.

The Monroe Doctrine was initially symbolic, but over time it became a living policy tool, reshaped by presidents to fit new circumstances:

•           James K. Polk (1840s): Invoked the Monroe Doctrine to oppose European interference in Texas, California, and Oregon, tying it to Manifest Destiny.

•           Theodore Roosevelt (1904): Added the Roosevelt Corollary, asserting the U.S. right to intervene in Latin America to stabilize economies and prevent European involvement. This marked a shift from defensive policy to active intervention.

•           Woodrow Wilson (1910s): Applied the doctrine to justify interventions in Mexico and the Caribbean, emphasizing democracy and stability.

•           Cold War Presidents (Truman, Kennedy, Reagan): Recast the doctrine as a bulwark against Soviet influence in the Western Hemisphere. Kennedy’s handling of the Cuban Missile Crisis was a direct application of Monroe’s principle.

•           Post-Cold War Era: The doctrine became less about Europe and more about global powers. Reagan and later presidents used its spirit to oppose communism and terrorism in the Americas.

Under President Donald Trump, the Monroe Doctrine has been revived.  The Trump Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine sends the original message, “Don’t mess around in our backyard,” but adds, “Don’t run evil operations with your global buddies in our backyard or we’ll be knocking on your doorstep.”

Trump’s administration is currently emphasizing The Trump Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine in relation to Venezuela and Cuba, framing it as a rejection of outside influence, particularly from Russia and China, in Latin America. While the doctrine is no longer a rigid policy, it remains a symbol of U.S. hemispheric leadership, invoked when foreign powers challenge American influence in the region.

The move has some Americans nervous that President Trump seeks regime change in Venezuela.  The leader of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, who has served as President since 2013, succeeding communist dictator Hugo Chavez, is also among those who believes that President Trump is considering invading the South American country. 

On December 10, 2025, a highly trained team of U.S. Marines and United States Coast Guardsmen seized an oil tanker off of Venezuela’s coast in an effort to enforce sanctions against Venezuela and to disrupt the country’s illegal oil trade.  American forces from helicopters repelled upon the deck of the ship, with weapons drawn, and detained the captain.  President Trump announced the operation on Wednesday shortly after it happened from the White House.  The tanker seized, The Skipper, was sanctioned in 2022 by the Biden administration due to ties to Iran and Hezbollah.  It is equipped with electronic warfare technology that the Trump administration says poses a real threat to American forces in the area. 

Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that the “vessel will go to a U.S. port and the United States does intend to seize the oil.  However, there is a legal process for the seizure of that oil, and that legal process will be followed.”

The operation seizing the vessel came only hours after the United States smuggled the Venezuelan opposition leader out of the country, Maria Machado.  She won the most recent presidential election in Venezuela, but President Maduro refused to step down.  She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize as the CIA smuggled her out of the country, and whisked her to Norway where she accepted the prize.  In her acceptance speech, Machado remarked when asked about America at Venezuela’s doorstep, “Venezuela has already been invaded.  We have Russian agents.  We have Iranian agents.  We have terrorist groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas, operating freely in accordance with the regime.  We have the Columbian guerrillas, the drug cartels, that have taken over 60% of our population.”

The very fact that she was able to escape sends a message to Maduro that there are holes in his security, and likely opposition personnel residing inside that security apparatus which likely means Maduro’s tight grip over his military is not as full as he thinks.  Meanwhile, a couple American F-18s are patrolling the coast of Venezuela.  Even more chilling is the list of foreign invaders operating on Venezuelan soil at the behest of President Maduro.

U.S. military assets are massing in Puerto Rico, joining forces already present in the Caribbean.  “Growlers,” which provide electronic warfare support, are among those assets joining the growing fleet of equipment in that region, along with a nice collection of F-35s.  The White House, however, denies that war is on the horizon.  Leavitt commented, “He wants peace, and he wants to see the end of illegal drugs being trafficked into the United States and taking the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans across our country.”

As per Machado’s statement regarding the foreign personnel operating in Venezuela, Maduro is harboring drug cartels, guerilla fighters, Russian KGB agents and radical Islamic jihadists just a hair over a thousand miles off the coast of Florida.

President Trump’s handling of the rising Venezuelan crisis has been measured, as is all of his international tendencies, squeezing Maduro slowly through the thing that will hurt him most – the money.  Stopping the drug trafficking and oil transports is what the seizure of the tanker was all about.  The Venezuelan dictator’s illegal oil exports are the primary source of funding for his regime.  With that money he bribes his military, bribes politicians, and lives a luxurious lifestyle as his people starve and live like folks in any failed communist state just before the walls come crashing down. 

With sanctions by the United States increasing, twenty-two drug boats destroyed as they traveled to the U.S. packed with illegal drugs, and the United States Navy floating near Venezuela’s coast the pressure on Maduro is increasing.  Middle Eastern accomplices and Russia’s Vladimir Putin are offering for Maduro to flee to their regions.  But the big picture goes way beyond Maduro, the Middle East, and Russia.  What is going on is President Trump’s necessary extension of the Monroe Doctrine.  For the safety of the United States, it is important that we ensure the Western Hemisphere is not being infested with enemies from the Eastern Hemisphere seeking to destroy The West.  We are not only checking Russian and Muslim intrusion, but we are also battling against Chinese infiltration of The West as Russia and China have begun conducting military drills together in the Pacific Ocean.  In response, beyond the Venezuelan tanker seizure which will continue hopefully to more sanctioned tankers, U.S. bombers have been joining Japanese fighter jets over the Sea of Japan.  The seizure of the tankers hurts China, and the military operations with Japan keeps them honest… for the moment.  The sanctioned Venezuelan oil, after all, is mostly being sold to China, and the Chinese have been building massive refineries in Venezuela.  Seizing the tankers stops a part of the oil flowing into China.

An American presence in Latin America sends a message to China, Russia, Islam, and even Columbia.  President Trump from the White House said, “He’s gonna have himself a big problem if he doesn’t wise up,” when asked about Columbia’s leadership.  “Columbia’s producing a lot of drugs.  They have cocaine factories that make cocaine as you know that flows right into the United States.  So, he better wise up, or he’ll be next.”

China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a massive global infrastructure development strategy launched in 2013 by President Xi Jinping, aimed at connecting Asia, Europe, and Africa through vast networks of railways, roads, ports, pipelines, and digital links to increase China’s geopolitical influence; and Columbia has bought into it.  President Trump’s actions in Latin America goes way beyond drugs, communist regimes and foreign influence.  He’s attempting to break China’s global empirical scheme, and seizing tankers off the coast of Venezuela and making Columbia nervous is just a small part of the overall operation.  Americans are already dying because of China’s influence south of our border, and President Trump’s operations are a reasonable response to the Far East’s invasion of The Western Hemisphere.

Democrats are beside themselves over Trump’s operations, largely because they are also indirectly in cahoots with the global mess festering at our back door.  Maxine Waters went so far as to accuse Trump of being a murderer, and calling for him to be brought up on charges for taking national security actions you would expect a good President of the United States to take.  She went even farther saying that he is required to go to the Congress of the United States before conducting such operations.  Maxine Waters, like her Democratic colleagues, continue to thumb their nose at the Constitution with their claims.  Congress has no authority to micromanage the actions of the President, especially when it comes to foreign affairs.  He is well within his authorities as Commander in Chief.

The mess wouldn’t even exist if the Biden administration hadn’t opened the southern border wide open with open border policies.  President Trump is operating in accordance to his “America First” foreign policy, a policy that is among a long list of reasons he was elected back into office in 2024. 

The goal is not a land war in Venezuela, or anywhere else in Latin America.  That is just the usual rhetoric you hear from the Democrats and their media allies.  It’s about pressure, and getting the bad elements festering in the Western Hemisphere to take a hike, which is exactly what it looks like Maduro might be doing.  And, the plan is working properly to move to a position that keeps our backyard relatively free of invaders from the other hemisphere.  It’s about stopping the making of drugs, and the running of drugs, and the smuggling of oil so that the money and influence can flow into the hands of enemies like China who seek the destruction of America.  President Trump has decided he’s just not going to allow that.  Under Trump, we are simply not going to allow the evil players of the world to bring their problems to us, and especially to bring them inside our country and taking the lives of Americans.

Despite claims to the contrary, I don’t believe this is the endless war scenario that we’ve seen the United States engage in during past administrations, including the neo-con regime of George W. Bush.  These operations are necessary in the current climate.  President Trump is making real-life decisions based on what is best for Americans, despite electoral threats and the screaming of his political opposition.  President Trump is doing something we haven’t seen in a very long time.  He is operating as a real leader on the worldwide stage.  And before we get all bent out of shape, understand that while we know a lot about what is going on – I just laid much of it out for you – President Trump and his team knows more than we do.  President Trump has shown he hates war and wants peace, but he also operates on the same wavelength of George Washington.  Be firm, be ready for war, and take care of America, but only do so when it is directly influential in our interests.  In other words, rather than go and fight other country’s wars around the globe, we need to be taking care of America’s domestic and international interests, and his actions in Latin America is definitely doing both.  How many Americans’ lives are being saved with Trump taking out drug boats?  How many more lives will be saved when Venezuela finally falls out of the grip of communism, Columbia finally is pushed back against when it comes to their production of drugs, and China, Russia and Islam is sent packing and returns to the Eastern Hemisphere with their tails between their legs?  President Trump is operating on an America First platform, and if it ticks off a bunch of Democrats and a few libertarians freaking out because they think it means war, so be it.  When you look at the big picture, President Trump is doing exactly what he ought to do, what we voted him into office to do, and what every spineless President before him refused to do.

— Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary