The National Security Strategy 2025, published on December 4, 2025, by the Trump administration, marks a fundamental strategic shift in U.S. national security policy. Against a backdrop of systemic competition with China and the reshaping of the international order, the document positions Latin America and the Caribbean as the new priority focus of U.S. security, gradually relegating the Indo-Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East to the background. The strategy revives and updates the Monroe Doctrine through the “Trump Corollary,” making the Western Hemisphere an essential strategic perimeter for ensuring U.S. internal stability, economic resilience, and global projection.

In this context, the NSS 2025 identifies three major, interconnected threats to U.S. national security:

• Narcoterrorism:

1. Deaths from synthetic opioid overdoses peaked at approximately 80,000 in 2023, more than 30 times the 2012 level.
2. The designation of Mexican cartels as “Foreign Terrorist Organizations” has made it possible to use military tools, sanctions, and unilateral actions outside the United States.

• Mass migration:

1. It is considered a direct threat to social cohesion and governance.
2. The immigrant population reached 53.3 million in January 2025 (15.8% of the total population).
3. More than 8 million people are undocumented.

• Influence of extra-regional powers:

1. Bilateral trade with Latin America and the Caribbean reached 518 billion dollars in 2024, nearly double what it was a decade ago. China has established itself as the leading trading partner for several South American countries.
2. More than half of the countries in the Ibero-American region participate in the “Belt and Road Initiative,” with loans totaling more than $145 billion between 2013 and 2021.

In the face of these threats, the United States seeks not only to reduce direct risks to its internal security but also to promote cooperation with countries in the hemisphere by fostering economic development, strengthening regional stability, and ensuring secure access to critical technologies and infrastructure. To this end, the strategy is based on a pragmatic approach: “be a better friend to allies,” “be tougher on enemies,” and “maintain pressure on partners.”

This approach translates into the reallocation of economic and diplomatic resources toward the region, a sustained increase in defense spending, and the use of military capability and economic pressure as tools of deterrence and influence. Economically, the Western Hemisphere offers exceptional strategic potential: its combined GDP exceeds that of all of East Asia, making it a natural counterweight to emerging powers and a hub of stability and resources.

In conclusion, the 2025 NSS not only redefines U.S. security priorities but also marks a historic shift in its global strategy: first consolidating a stable, prosperous Western Hemisphere aligned with U.S. interests, and then projecting leadership and security on a global scale.

This report is the result of the internship completed by Cristina Pastor, a student in the fifth cohort of the Expert Degree in Leadership and Civic Engagement, at the most prestigious conservative think tank in the United States, The Heritage Foundation.