Trump Has Turned Venezuela Into a 21st Century US Protectorate

Conservative sectors argue that U.S. hegemony is weakening and that the opportunity to prevent China from matching or surpassing the United States is closing. They advocate using all available means, including military force, to stop China before it becomes too strong. This framing shapes Trump administration foreign policy through aggressive tariffs applied to both enemies and allies. It also includes efforts to block China from obtaining advanced chips needed for artificial intelligence and attempts to restrict China’s access to energy and mineral resources. The approach appears in a new national security doctrine released at the end of 2025, threats involving Canada, Greenland, and Cuba, and successive military actions. It also includes a request to Congress to raise the military budget by 50 percent despite already high spending.

"Conservative sectors have been arguing for several decades that the window of opportunity to prevent China's power from equaling or surpassing that of the United States is closing. They argue that it is necessary to use all possible means, including military force, to halt China before it is too late."

"This characterization of what is at stake has become one of the primary determinants of the Trump administration's foreign policy. This is expressed in the aggressive application of tariffs against both enemies and allies; its attempts to prevent China from obtaining the most advanced chips required to compete in the field of artificial intelligence; and its efforts to restrict China's access to and control of indispensable energy and mineral resources."

"It is expressed in the content of the new national security doctrine released at the end of 2025, in the threats against Canada, Greenland, and Cuba, and in the successive military actions that have been carried out. Equally, it is seen in the demand made to Congress to increase the military budget by 50 percent for the coming year, despite the fact that the current budget is already higher than the sum of the military spending of the ten countries that follow it."

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