US President Donald Trump has consistently alleged that the Maduro government is collaborating with “narco-terrorists” to facilitate drug trafficking into the United States. Last year, he responded by amassing a significant number of US military forces in the vicinity.

Meanwhile, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has recently argued that deposing Maduro could hinder adversaries like Iran and Hezbollah from establishing operations in Venezuela.

The operation leading to Maduro’s capture was preceded by a series of attacks on vessels the White House identified as “drug boats,” though the legitimacy of these actions has raised questions within the US.

Following Maduro’s apprehension, Trump seized the moment to issue threats to neighboring countries, regardless of their alliances.

This assertive approach in foreign affairs is unfolding amid growing domestic dissatisfaction, as Trump’s approval ratings decline and the administration faces pressure to release documents related to Jeffrey Epstein.

Cuba – a nation heavily reliant on Venezuelan oil – Colombia, Mexico, and Greenland have all been the subject of recent comments by Trump or Rubio.

Trump warned Colombian President Gustavo Petro to “watch his ass” and called him a “sick man”.

He suggested Cuba’s government would fall and again suggested the possibility of US military action in Mexico, while once more floating the possibility of unilaterally annexing Greenland.

Rubio, meanwhile, posted on the White House website a self-compiled list of quotes given in recent interviews that build to suggest the US will continue to exercise its power in the “western hemisphere”.

“We’ve seen how our adversaries all over the world are exploiting and extracting resources from Africa, from every other country. They’re not going to do it in the Western Hemisphere,” he said.

“That is not going to happen under President Trump. Read our national security strategy. He is serious about it.”

It’s a posture that harks back to the fifth US President, James Monroe, who established the Monroe Doctrine, which stipulates that the US will guard against foreign influence in its region.

“This is the Western Hemisphere,” Rubio said in another interview.

“This is where we live – and we’re not going to allow the Western Hemisphere to be a base of operation for adversaries, competitors, and rivals of the United States.”

Trump had also referenced the 200-year-old policy, claiming that some in his administration were starting to reference the “Don-roe Doctrine”.