Venezuela Signals Trump’s New Vision for the Western Hemisphere

0:28Some of the best lessons don't come from a classroom.

0:33Nicolas Maduro declares his innocence in his first appearance in front of a U.S. court. Plus, the Trump administration's actions in Venezuela herald a new geopolitical strategy. I think we can safely say that the era of a more muscular approach to foreign policy in Latin America, where the U.S. is willing to exert not just economic or diplomatic pressure, but even military pressure to advance its interests, is here to stay, at least for now. And why automakers are expecting this year to be a tough one. It's Monday, January 5th. I'm Alex Osula for The Wall Street Journal. This is the PM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories that move the world today.

1:18Ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro made his first appearance in front of a U.S. federal court today, where he pleaded not guilty to narco-trafficking charges. Maduro said he was still the president of his country and that he was a prisoner of war who had been kidnapped. The hearing was the start of a highly unusual legal battle for a foreign leader in a U.S. court, and the prosecution and defense could spend years fighting over the legality of Maduro's arrest and his charges before he even goes to trial. Separately, in an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council today, Venezuela asked the U.N.

1:53to condemn what it called the kidnapping of its president and said its institutions are functioning normally. Russia and China criticized the U.S. actions and called for Maduro's release. The U.S. said Maduro's removal was a legitimate law enforcement operation.

2:13There's been a shift in geopolitical strategy under President Trump, focusing on U.S. leadership in the Western Hemisphere. The president calls it the Don Roe Doctrine. The Monroe Doctrine is a big deal, but we've superseded it by a lot, by a real lot. They now call it the Donroe Doctrine. And after this weekend's action in Venezuela, the president is now threatening other countries. Yesterday, he said that a U.S. operation in Colombia to stop drug flows, quote, sounds good to me. He also predicted that Cuba's government would collapse. Cuba looks like it's ready to fall. I don't know if they can hold up.

2:51But Cuba now has no income. They got all of their income from Venezuela, from the Venezuelan oil. They're not getting any of it. And said the U.S. needs to take control of Greenland for national security reasons, leading to sharp criticism from Denmark, which said the U.S. has no right to annex the island, which is a part of the kingdom. For more on what Trump intends in the region, I'm joined now by Jeff Ramsey, a non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and an expert on Latin America. Jeff, the Don Roe Doctrine is a reference to the Monroe Doctrine, which goes back to the 19th century.

3:24Of course, President James Monroe. Here's how President Trump described it over the weekend. The future will be determined by the ability to protect commerce and territory and resources that are core to national security. Jeff, how has President Trump revived this doctrine and what's different about it today? This is really the biggest update to the Monroe Doctrine that we've seen in years. This is ultimately about the ability of the United States to project its influence more aggressively across the entire Western Hemisphere. And this fits with what we know about this administration's approach to foreign policy.

3:59A few weeks ago, they published the National Security Strategy that really outlines an aggressive stance towards defending U.S. interests in the Western Hemisphere, particularly as it relates to pushing back against the rising influence of Russia, China, Iran, and other geopolitical rivals of Washington. We've already seen how the administration is essentially putting other governments in the hemisphere on watch. The president has left the door open to potential interventions in Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, and others. Now, it's a little bit difficult to tell how much of that can be taken at face value, but I think we can safely say that this is an administration that's willing to go farther than any other recent administration in history to secure U.S.

4:46interests in the Americas. Back to the Monroe Doctrine for a second. Under other presidents, it led to a bunch of things happening to expand U.S. territory, like annexing Hawaii, seizing Puerto Rico and the Philippines and Guam from Spain. Can we expect those kinds of actions to potentially come under President Trump now? I don't think that we're likely to see a full return to gunboat diplomacy. I don't think we're likely to see the U.S. invade and occupy any countries in our hemisphere, particularly because, you know, this is an administration that prefers a light footprint when it comes to foreign entanglements.

5:23Are there any risks for the U.S. under the president's approach? You know, I think the major risks here are related to instability and the general uncertainty regarding Venezuela's future. I mean, Venezuela is home to a number of armed groups in the country. There are dissidents of the FARC guerrillas in Colombia. The National Liberation Army guerrillas in Colombia have really expanded their reach into Venezuela in recent years. There are thousands of pro-government paramilitary organization members known as colectivos. So there really is a scenario here in which if Venezuela devolves into some kind of a leadership vacuum, you really could envision a protracted internal armed conflict, which could impact not just U.S.

6:10interests in Venezuela, but also other governments in the region and ultimately affect regional stability and security. That was Jeff Ramsey, a non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council. Jeff, thank you so much. Thank you so much.

6:27In markets, the Dow hit a new intraday high above 49 ,000 and finished up 1.2 percent, with a boost from Chevron's 5.1 percent climb. WSJ Markets reporter David Huberti says Chevron could benefit from a revival in Venezuela's oil industry. Chevron has operated under a licensing deal with the U.S. government for several years now. Talking to investors and analysts over the last couple of days, they tend to see Chevron as standing to benefit the most compared to any other U.S. oil company operating today just by virtue of them being in the country right now. They have sort of navigated the Venezuelan political and economic crisis of the last several years, and they've continued to produce oil over that time period.

7:10That gives them something of a springboard, at least the theory goes, on Wall Street. Though President Trump pledged that American drillers would revive Venezuela's production of crude oil, there isn't an easy path for that to happen. It is unclear the extent to which companies like Chevron or Exxon will either ramp up their existing investments in Venezuela or return to Venezuela after having some of their previous assets nationalized. And in fact, right now, the price of oil is quite cheap. And that's actually going to be an impediment to some of those companies deciding whether they want to come in.

7:40With refiners, on the other hand, the potential upside for them is much more clear. If more Venezuelan oil output does come back online, the particular type of Venezuelan crude oil that's produced is very well suited for the types of refineries that exist on the U.S. Gulf Coast. And oil prices were volatile today. Brent crude futures, the international price benchmark, slipped and then rose 1.7 percent. Coming up, we've got more of the day's news, including what 2026 has in store for automakers and the CDC's change to childhood vaccine recommendations. That's after the break.

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8:54In U.S. political news, Tim Walls, the Democratic vice presidential nominee in the 2024 election, has dropped his bid for a third term as the governor of Minnesota amid a massive welfare fraud scandal. Speaking to reporters today in St. Paul, Walls said he couldn't run for office and also do the work needed to respond to the crisis. Every minute that I spend defending my own political interest would be a minute I can't spend defending the people of Minnesota against the criminals who prey on our generosity and the cynics who want to prey on our differences. So I've decided to step out of this race and I'll let others worry about the election while I focus on the work that's in front of me for the next year.

9:35Three Democrats said that Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar is seriously considering a run for his job. And General Motors and other automakers like Honda, Hyundai, and Mazda said that their sales in the U.S. slumped in the last months of 2025. While sales rose for Toyota and Stellantis in that period, this year is generally expected to be tough. Analysts and automakers predict U.S. annual sales will fall after three straight years of gains. WSJ Auto's reporter Chris Otz says that there are a few things going on here. There's a thought that automakers have been holding the line, really trying not to increase their prices because they don't want to give up sales to their rivals.

10:17And so they've been eating billions of dollars of tariff costs. And there's some thought that that dynamic will change and that they won't be able to sustain that posture anymore. And then there's sort of general economic conditions. If interest rates decline further, that could help the auto industry. But so far, interest rates on car loans have not really responded much to the rate cuts that we've seen. Prices have been rising a lot over the last five years. Insurance costs are especially high. And there are other costs associated like repair and maintenance that have gone up faster than inflation.

10:58So the overall picture for new car purchases is pretty challenging right now.

11:07And finally, a major policy change on childhood vaccines from the Trump administration. The CDC is cutting down the list of recommended vaccines from 17 to 11. That means the agency is no longer recommending that all children get shots to protect against rotavirus, COVID-19, influenza, meningococcal disease, hepatitis A, and hepatitis B. Instead, the CDC says decisions should be made by parents and health care providers. In the U.S., states set vaccine requirements, but CDC recommendations help guide state policy and can also influence insurance coverage. And that's what's news for this Monday afternoon.

11:45Today's show is produced by Pierre Bien-Aimé with supervising producer Tali Arbel. I'm Alex Osula for The Wall Street Journal. We'll be back with a new show tomorrow morning. Thanks for listening.

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