‘America First’ means ‘China Out’

OPINION:

After the removal of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro, President Trump made his position about China’s presence in the Western Hemisphere clear to the world. In a White House meeting, he told Beijing, “We don’t want you there. You’re not going to be there.”

He also made clear that there is a difference between selling products to China and giving Beijing a strategic foothold in the hemisphere to actively thwart American interests. Although China will continue to buy oil and other products, its attempt to co-opt the ownership and access to strategic assets and infrastructure will end.

The U.S. National Security Strategy published in November promised to rid the hemisphere of “hostile foreign incursion,” secure our access to “key strategic locations” and deny adversarial ownership of America’s “strategically vital assets.” With Mr. Maduro out, the Trump administration sets out to secure those promises.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio reiterated what this means: “We’re not going to allow the Western Hemisphere to be a base of operation for adversaries, competitors and rivals of the United States.” Mr. Trump’s handling of the long-standing threat posed by Venezuela is a clear indication of his seriousness, as well as the range of consequences that governments may face if they refuse to work with him on this objective.

It would be smart for the rest of the region to look beyond Venezuela and understand what cooperation with Mr. Trump actually means.

First, the communist dictatorship in Cuba will no longer be Beijing’s (or anyone else’s) playground of anti-American operations in our hemisphere. The usual games played by other Latin American governments about Cuba will come at a price.

Furthermore, any Chinese military presence in our hemisphere must be shut down and their personnel sent home, or their hosts will face consequences. This has implications for our friends as well as our foes.

Consider the Espacio Lejano space station in southern Argentina, which provides the People’s Liberation Army with capabilities for military reconnaissance, communications and guidance systems. Argentina under President Javier Milei is unmistakably a U.S. ally, but that space station can’t operate if the Chinese military is using it against us. There will be no exceptions to this policy.

Additionally, Chinese infrastructure projects designed to give Beijing ownership of strategic assets and domination of commodity markets in our hemisphere must be stopped. This includes massive Chinese rail projects planned in Brazil and Peru designed to build Chinese-owned infrastructure that feeds South America’s riches into the Port of Chancay outside Lima, which China has built, owns and operates.

Mr. Trump is kicking the Chinese out of the Panama Canal, and the U.S. will put an end to Beijing’s aggressive attempts to control all the points of shipment and access for strategic assets. They can buy products in this hemisphere like anyone else, of course, but they can’t own and control access to the entire network where those trades take place.

In fact, Chancay already violates all three central pillars of Mr. Trump’s National Security Strategy: ownership, location and access. Peru is holding a presidential election in April, and, according to a 2025 Foundation for Defense of Democracies report, a leading candidate, former Lima Mayor Rafael Lopez Aliaga, has close business and public ties to China. Beijing has promised to build a huge rail project connecting Chancay to the major mining and agricultural centers of Brazil, using PeruRail, a company Mr. Lopez Aliaga co-founded.

Mr. Lopez Aliaga markets himself as pro-Trump and pro-U.S. in his campaign, but he can’t be either while he is financially and politically in bed with the Chinese. “America First” means “China Out”; if you’re not China Out, you’re out.

Mr. Trump is not playing games; leaders who think they can fool the White House to gain favor will get run over.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro, one of the most anti-American, anti-Trump leftist leaders of recent years, wised up very quickly after Mr. Maduro’s removal. He called Mr. Trump to beg for a new understanding in a spirit of cooperation.

After being the primary source of the surge in global cocaine production and railing endlessly in public against Mr. Trump, Mr. Petro is finally seeking cooperation.

So let no one mistake where the Western Hemisphere is now headed. China must give up its ambition to own the Americas, and Mr. Trump will make sure no government in this part of the world gives support, encouragement or aid to the threat this ambition has posed to the United States for far too long.

• Joe Buccino is a retired U.S. Army colonel. He served as the communications director for U.S. Central Command from April 2021 to July 2023.