President Donald Trump gathered more than a dozen Western Hemisphere heads of state at his Doral, Florida resort on March 7, 2026, for the inaugural Shield of the Americas Summit — a landmark event that produced the formal launch of a new multinational military alliance to combat drug cartels, a U.S. diplomatic recognition of Venezuela’s post-Maduro government, and a new bilateral “gold deal” with Caracas, all against the backdrop of Trump’s ongoing military campaign against Iran. Speaking with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at his side, Trump declared that the era of U.S. neglect of its own hemisphere was over, announced that 17 nations had signed onto the new America’s Counter Cartel Coalition (ACCC), offered to use precision missiles against cartel leaders at any ally’s request, and signaled that Cuba is in its “last moments” as a communist state and ripe for a deal. He also described the capture of former Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro in a January special-operations raid as an 18-minute precision strike with zero U.S. casualties, and said peace talks to end the Russia-Ukraine war remain elusive due to deep personal hatred between the parties. Assistance from Claude AI.
Participants
United States
- Donald Trump — President of the United States
- Marco Rubio — Secretary of State
- Pete Hegseth — Secretary of Defense (referred to by Trump as “Secretary of War”)
- Scott Bessent — Secretary of the Treasury
- Howard Lutnick — Secretary of Commerce
- Chris Wright — Secretary of Energy
- Kristi Noem — Secretary of Homeland Security
- Jamieson Greer — U.S. Trade Representative
- Chris Landau — Deputy Secretary of State
- Stephen Miller — Deputy Chief of Staff
- Senator Bernie Marino — U.S. Senator (ally of Trump, present as guest)
Western Hemisphere Heads of State / Government
- Javier Milei — President of Argentina
- Nayib Bukele — President of El Salvador
- Santiago Peña — President of Paraguay
- Daniel Noboa — President of Ecuador
- José Raúl Mulino — President of Panama
- Tito Asfura — President of Honduras
- Irfaan Ali — President of Guyana
- Rodrigo Paz — President of Bolivia
- Kamla Persad-Bissessar — Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago
- Rodrigo Chaves — President of Costa Rica
- Laura Fernández Delgado — President-elect of Costa Rica
- Luis Abinader — President of the Dominican Republic
- José Kast — President-elect of Chile
Topic-by-Topic Breakdown
1. Iran Military Campaign: Scope, Results, and Casualties
Trump opened his remarks by describing the state of the ongoing U.S. military campaign against Iran in striking terms. He claimed that American forces had:
- Destroyed 42 Iranian Navy ships — “some of them very large” — in three days. “That was the end of the Navy.”
- Knocked out Iran’s Air Force and its entire communications and telecommunications infrastructure: “All telecommunications is gone. I don’t know how they communicate.”
Trump justified the operation primarily on nuclear grounds. He said Iran was “very close to a nuclear weapon” and would have had one within eight months had the U.S. not carried out the “Midnight Hammer” B-2 bomber strike in June 2025. “They would have had a nuclear weapon, and, you know, and they’re crazy, and they would have used it. So, we did the world a favor.”
Trump also acknowledged American casualties, saying he would leave the summit to travel to Dover Air Force Base to meet the families of service members killed in Iran — “coming home in a different manner than they thought they’d be coming home.” He added: “There’s always, when it comes to war, there’s always that, but we’re going to keep it to a minimum.”
He rated the campaign a “15 out of 10” when asked how it was going, and connected Iran to Hamas and broader regional violence: “They’re bad people. They’re just bad people. When you look at October 7th and beyond October 7th, look at all the killing that they’ve done over the years, for 47 years.”
Context for general readers: The U.S. military campaign known as Operation Epic Fury began February 28, 2026, as a joint U.S.-Israel operation targeting Iranian military infrastructure, air defenses, missile sites, and — per Trump’s previous statements — Iran’s nuclear facilities (struck in Operation Midnight Hammer in June 2025). The current phase is a continuation and escalation of that initial nuclear strike campaign.
✅ FACT CHECK — Iranian Navy: “42 ships destroyed in three days”
Verdict: Plausible but likely overstated as of this speech date. As of March 5, 2026 — two days before the summit — U.S. CENTCOM commander Admiral Brad Cooper stated in a Pentagon briefing that the U.S. had destroyed “over 30” Iranian naval vessels (Stars and Stripes, Navy Times, March 5, 2026). Trump’s figure of 42 is higher than the publicly confirmed count at the time, though the conflict was ongoing and the total may have risen in the preceding 48 hours. The description of three days to destroy most of the fleet is broadly consistent with public reporting on the pace of Operation Epic Fury, which began February 28. However, Trump’s specific claim that this constituted “the end of the Navy” is consistent with CENTCOM’s own characterization — Admiral Cooper stated the U.S. had “effectively neutralized Iran’s major naval presence” (Janes, March 6, 2026). The precise figure of 42 has not been independently confirmed by CENTCOM at this writing.
Source: Stars and Stripes (March 5, 2026); Navy Times (March 5, 2026); Janes (March 6, 2026).
✅ FACT CHECK — Operation Midnight Hammer and Iran’s nuclear timeline
Verdict: Partially accurate, with important context. Operation Midnight Hammer (June 22, 2025) was real and involved seven B-2 bombers dropping 14 GBU-57 “bunker buster” bombs on Iran’s nuclear facilities at Fordow and Natanz, while a U.S. submarine fired Tomahawk missiles at Isfahan. The operation involved over 125 total aircraft and was, per Pentagon officials, the largest B-2 strike in history (Breaking Defense, USNI News, June 2025). Trump’s claim that Iran “would have had” a nuclear weapon “eight months ago” had the strike not occurred is consistent with an internal framing his administration has used, though independent assessors — including the IAEA and the Defense Intelligence Agency’s leaked early assessment — said the strikes severely damaged but did not fully destroy the sites, setting back Iran’s program by an estimated one to two years, not eliminating it. The broader claim that Iran was “very close” to a nuclear weapon is consistent with IAEA assessments that Iran had stockpiled enough enriched uranium for multiple bombs, though the IAEA also assessed that Iran had not actually decided to build one (CSIS, August 2025).
Sources: USNI News (June 22, 2025); CSIS (August 13, 2025); The War Zone (June 22, 2025).
2. Founding of the America’s Counter Cartel Coalition (ACCC)
The central policy announcement of the summit was the formal launch of the America’s Counter Cartel Coalition, a multinational military alliance targeting drug cartels and transnational criminal organizations across the Western Hemisphere.
Trump said: “We’re calling this military partnership the America’s Counter Cartel Coalition, and that’s what you need.”
Key details:
- 17 nations had formally signed onto the agreement at a prior conference in Miami earlier in the week.
- The coalition’s stated mission is to use “lethal military force to destroy the sinister cartels and terrorist networks once and for all.”
- Trump offered allied nations direct U.S. military assistance, including precision missile strikes against cartel figures: “If you want us to use a missile, they’re extremely accurate. Pew, right into the living room. That’s the end of that cartel person.”
- He acknowledged some allies may not want direct U.S. military action: “A lot of countries don’t want to do that… that’s okay too. You’re gonna do you. But if you need help, you’re gonna let us know.”
- Trump compared the effort to the anti-ISIS coalition: “Just as we formed a coalition to eradicate ISIS in the Middle East, we must now do the same thing to eradicate the cartels at home.”
Trump cited two enforcement statistics as context:
- Drug trafficking by sea is down 96%: “Drugs coming in through water is down 96%. We’re trying to find out who the other 4% are, because I think they’re the bravest people in the world.”
- Fentanyl crossing the southern border has been reduced by 67% in the first year.
He specifically named Mexico as the “epicenter of cartel violence” fueling bloodshed across the hemisphere, while expressing personal warmth for Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum. He said she had resisted his requests to let the U.S. help eradicate the cartels, telling him “No, no, no, please, President” — but that the cartels “are running Mexico” and are “too close to us.”
Context for general readers: The ACCC builds on Trump’s broader second-term security doctrine, which has included designating several cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) and invoking the Alien Enemies Act to deport gang members. The coalition represents the multilateral military dimension of that strategy. Per a Pentagon statement and SOUTHCOM press release, the March 5 conference was the founding event, hosted by Hegseth at SOUTHCOM headquarters in Doral, with military and security representatives from 17 nations signing a joint security declaration.
✅ FACT CHECK — ACCC membership: “18 nations” vs. “17 nations”
Verdict: Minor discrepancy — the confirmed figure is 17. Trump said in his speech that “representatives of 17 different nations formerly entered this new alliance,” and the official White House proclamation, the Pentagon statement, and independent reporting from UPI, Washington Examiner, and SOUTHCOM all confirm 17 nations signed the joint security declaration. Trump later said “18 countries” in passing — the 17 figure from both the official documents and his own earlier statement in the same speech is the accurate number.
Sources: White House Proclamation (March 7, 2026); SOUTHCOM Public Affairs (March 6, 2026); UPI (March 7, 2026).
✅ FACT CHECK — Fentanyl decline: “67%”
Verdict: Overstated; the documented figure is approximately 56%. According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and CBP, fentanyl trafficking at the southern border declined by 56% compared to the same period in 2024, as of August 2025. WOLA’s analysis of full fiscal year 2025 CBP data shows a 46% drop from fiscal 2024 and a 57% drop from fiscal 2023. The 67% figure Trump cited is higher than any single official government figure. The downward trend is real and significant, but Trump’s specific percentage is an overstatement.
Sources: DHS press release (September 30, 2025); CBP Drug Seizure Statistics; WOLA (November 2025).
3. The “Shield of Americas” Organization and Hemisphere-First Doctrine
Beyond the ACCC, Trump and his team announced a separate but related new body: the Shield of Americas, described as a broader organization to advance shared hemispheric priorities including security, prosperity, free commerce, and rule of law.
Trump framed this as a deliberate strategic reorientation away from distant engagements: “It’s been abandoned by the United States for so many years, you know? They went so far away. They went to these far away places where they weren’t even wanted.”
He praised Secretary Rubio for organizing the summit and joked about Rubio’s language advantage in the region: “He’s got a language advantage over me, ’cause I’m not learning your damn language. I don’t have time.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth offered the formal doctrinal framing, explicitly invoking the Monroe Doctrine — the 19th-century U.S. policy asserting the Western Hemisphere is off-limits to foreign powers — and announcing an updated version:
“President Trump has established the Trump Corollary of the Monroe Doctrine, the Donroe Doctrine, and the War Department is implementing it as fast as we can.”
Hegseth described the ACCC as an action coalition, not a paper one: “It’s an action coalition of like-minded countries who are gonna bring their capabilities to bear, with American leadership at the forefront… it’s not just an organization that’s gonna hold conferences and release white papers.”
He also invoked shared cultural identity: “We share cultures, Western Christian civilization. We share these things together, we have to have the courage to defend it.”
4. Venezuela: Maduro Capture, New Government, Oil Deal, and Formal Recognition
Trump spent significant time on Venezuela, describing a dramatic transformation since the January 3, 2026 special-operations raid — Operation Absolute Resolve — that resulted in the capture of then-dictator Nicolás Maduro.
Trump’s account of the operation:
- U.S. forces conducted a precision raid on “a very powerful military base fort” — actually Fuerte Tiuna, Venezuela’s largest military compound in Caracas — where Maduro was located.
- The operation lasted approximately 18 minutes of “pure violence.”
- Zero U.S. personnel killed: “We lost nobody. Not one person was lost.”
- Trump said onlookers “couldn’t believe” U.S. forces entered a heavily fortified military base and extracted Maduro.
Since Maduro’s removal, Trump said the U.S. has been working closely with Delcy Rodríguez, described as the new president of Venezuela: “She’s doing a great job because she’s working with us. If she wasn’t working with us, I would not say she’s doing a great job.”
New U.S.-Venezuela agreements announced at the summit:
- Formal diplomatic recognition: “This week we have formally recognized the Venezuelan government. We’ve actually legally recognized them.”
- A gold deal: “We have also just reached a historic gold deal… to allow our two countries to work together to facilitate the sale of Venezuelan gold and other minerals.”
- Oil sector revival: Trump said major U.S. oil companies are now operating in Venezuela, and the country is “making more money now than they’ve ever made in the history of their country.”
Context for general readers: Operation Absolute Resolve was launched January 3, 2026. According to Pentagon officials and reporting by CNN, NBC News, and Breaking Defense, the operation involved more than 150 aircraft launching from 20 locations, and was executed by Delta Force operators flown in by the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment. Maduro and his wife were transported to New York, where both appeared in Manhattan federal court on January 5 and pleaded not guilty to narcoterrorism and drug trafficking charges. Delcy Rodríguez, previously Maduro’s Vice President, was directed by Venezuela’s judicial system to assume executive authority following the capture.
✅ FACT CHECK — “Zero casualties” in Operation Absolute Resolve
Verdict: Accurate on U.S. personnel deaths; one aircraft was hit. General Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, confirmed at the January 3 press conference that there were no U.S. fatalities in Operation Absolute Resolve — “no loss of life to U.S. forces.” However, Caine also noted that “one of our aircraft was hit but remained flyable.” Trump’s summit statement that “not one aircraft or no military equipment, zero” was damaged is inaccurate on that specific point — one aircraft was struck by enemy fire, though it completed the mission and returned home. The “zero casualties” claim regarding personnel deaths is accurate.
Sources: Gen. Dan Caine press conference, January 3, 2026 (Fox News, Breaking Defense); CNN (January 4, 2026).
✅ FACT CHECK — “18 minutes of pure violence” for the Maduro capture
Verdict: Consistent with public reporting, with context. The 18-minute figure is consistent with publicly reported timelines. Per Breaking Defense and the SOF Support Foundation analysis, the helicopter assault team arrived at the compound and the force exfiltrated with Maduro in custody within a window consistent with Trump’s description. The overall operation from helicopter ingress to being “over the water” was approximately 2.5 hours, but the active ground engagement at the compound site was brief. The description of “18 minutes” aligns with the assault phase as discussed in public reporting.
Sources: Breaking Defense (January 8, 2026); Fox News (January 3, 2026).
5. Cuba: “Last Moments” and Pending Deal
Trump signaled that Cuba is next on his hemispheric agenda, describing the communist government as near collapse and ripe for negotiation.
“Cuba is in its last moments of life, as it was,” Trump said. “It’ll have a great new life, but it’s in its last moments of life the way it is.”
He offered specific reasons for Cuba’s desperation:
- “They have no money, they have no oil. They have a bad philosophy.”
- Cuba previously relied on Venezuela for oil subsidies, which have dried up since Maduro’s capture.
- He said planes landing in Cuba cannot even refuel to depart: “They can’t get gasoline to fly out. They have to leave their planes behind.”
Trump said Cuban officials are actively “negotiating with Marco and myself and some others,” and predicted: “I would think a deal would be made very easily with Cuba.” He said four attending foreign leaders had specifically asked him to “take care of Cuba” — and he promised he would. He projected a quick timeline, suggesting Rubio might need just “one hour off” from the Iran situation before finishing a Cuba deal.
6. U.S. Military Buildup: Battleships and Defense Spending
In a notable aside, Trump described a major new U.S. naval construction program. He said the U.S. is building 10 new battleships — invoking comparisons to the massive warships of World War II — that are purportedly 100 times more powerful than their mid-20th-century counterparts.
“I’ve always said, ‘Why don’t we have battleships anymore, shooting big bullets instead of $3 million rockets?’” Trump recounted. The new vessels were described as delivering 100 times the firepower of the old ones, adding: “We’re building 10 of them, not to use ’em. We don’t wanna use ’em, but by having them, nobody’s gonna play games.”
He also noted that U.S. defense spending may rise to approximately $1.5 trillion: “We may be going to a trillion-and-a-half dollars.”
7. Russia-Ukraine War: Peace Talks Stalling on Personal Hatred
Trump offered an unusually candid assessment of Russia-Ukraine peace negotiations, suggesting that deep personal animosity between the two sides remains the chief obstacle.
“The hatred between Putin and his counterpart is so great… Ukraine, Russia, you’d think there’d be a little bit of comradery. There’s not. And the hatred is so great, it’s very hard for them to get there.”
He confirmed that talks had come close multiple times: “We’ve been close a lot of times, and one or the other would back out.”
Trump framed his involvement as humanitarian: “I’m doing it as a favor to Europe, and I’m doing it as a favor to life, because they’re losing 25,000 souls… every month. 25,000. Last month, 31,000, both sides, 31,000 people died, mostly soldiers.”
He expressed confidence a deal would eventually happen, comparing the challenge to other conflicts he said he resolved — India-Pakistan (using tariffs and trade as leverage) and three other unnamed conflicts he claimed to have ended: “One was 32 years, one was 34, and one was 37 years, and we got it done very quickly. And we’ll get this one done too.”
8. Trump’s Acknowledgment of Attending Leaders and Endorsement Record
Trump made a point of personally welcoming each attending head of state, offering a mix of policy praise and personal anecdote:
- Javier Milei (Argentina): Trump noted he endorsed Milei when he was “a couple of points down” and he “went up like a rocket ship.”
- Nayib Bukele (El Salvador): Trump recalled meeting Bukele when he was young: “Now you’re older and handsome. But he runs a good operation. That’s all I care about.”
- José Raúl Mulino (Panama): Trump riffed on the Panama Canal deal that ceded the waterway to Panama: “I love that canal… He bought it for $1… Jimmy Carter.” — a reference to President Jimmy Carter’s 1977 Panama Canal Treaties.
- Kamla Persad-Bissessar (Trinidad and Tobago): Trump made a point of distinguishing her first name from former Vice President Kamala Harris: “It’s Kamla as opposed to Kamala. I like Kamla better in many ways.”
- José Kast (Chile): Introduced as “President-elect of Chile,” Trump said: “Congratulations. It’s an endorsement. Gave you a little endorsement.”
- Luis Abinader (Dominican Republic): Trump praised a mutual acquaintance as “the Sugar King” with large sugar holdings.
Trump also claimed a 124-0 record on endorsements “this week,” including in foreign countries, and jokingly asked Rubio whether he could legally charge for his endorsements.
✅ FACT CHECK — José Kast as “President-elect of Chile”
Verdict: Accurate as of the summit date, though barely. Kast won Chile’s presidential runoff election on December 14, 2025, with 58.2% of the vote (NPR, Al Jazeera, Americas Quarterly). His inauguration was scheduled for March 11, 2026 — four days after this summit. At the time of Trump’s remarks on March 7, Kast was still technically president-elect, making the description accurate. Trump’s assertion that he “gave [Kast] a little endorsement” is consistent with Kast’s own acknowledged international alliances and Trump’s pattern of endorsing right-wing candidates in Latin America, though the specific timing and nature of any Trump endorsement in Chile’s election has not been independently verified by this fact-check.
Sources: NPR (December 14, 2025); Al Jazeera (December 15, 2025); Wikipedia — 2025 Chilean General Election.
9. Border Security, Murder Rate, and Biden Administration Comparisons
Trump used the summit to tout his border and public safety record as context for the hemisphere-wide cartel fight:
- He claimed the border has had “zero people” able to enter illegally for nine months: “We have a border now where for nine months, zero people have been able to come through.”
- He attributed the prior immigration crisis to the Biden administration, claiming “at least 25 million people” entered the country during Biden’s term, including people from “prisons,” “mental institutions,” and gang members.
- He repeated his claim that the U.S. has the lowest murder rate in 125 years: “We achieved the largest drop in murder rate in recorded history.”
- He blamed former Presidents Biden and Obama — calling Obama “the great divider” and referring to Biden as “the autopen president” — for allowing the situation to deteriorate.
⚠️ FACT CHECK — “Zero people” at the border for nine months
Verdict: Misleading. Trump’s claim conflates zero releases into the U.S. with zero encounters or apprehensions. CBP data from 2025 shows border encounters dropped dramatically — by approximately 93% year-over-year — but crossings and apprehensions did not fall to literal zero. CBP reported 8,383 Border Patrol apprehensions along the southwest border in April 2025 alone (CBP Monthly Update). The administration’s policy of detaining or immediately removing essentially everyone apprehended means nearly zero people were released into the U.S. interior — that is the accurate claim. “Zero people have been able to come through” is a significant overstatement of the actual numbers.
Sources: CBP Monthly Updates (April–May 2025).
⚠️ FACT CHECK — “At least 25 million people” under Biden
Verdict: Significantly overstated. The total number of CBP encounters during the Biden administration (January 2021 – January 2025) was approximately 10–11 million, per CBP’s own data. That figure includes people encountered and immediately expelled or removed — not all of whom entered or remained in the country. The 25 million figure is roughly 2–2.5 times the documented total and has been consistently rated as false or misleading by multiple fact-checkers across Trump’s second term. This is a recurring false claim.
Sources: CBP Encounter Data (2021–2025).
⚠️ FACT CHECK — “Lowest murder rate in 125 years”
Verdict: Partially accurate but disputed on the 125-year claim. The underlying trend is real and significant. The Council on Criminal Justice (CCJ) reported in January 2026 that the 2025 homicide rate in major U.S. cities dropped approximately 21% from 2024 — the largest single-year decline on record — and projected the national rate to land near 4.0 per 100,000 residents once the FBI releases final figures. The CCJ described this as potentially “the lowest rate ever recorded in law enforcement or public health data going back to 1900.” However, crime data experts, including researcher Jeff Asher, caution that data prior to 1960 uses different methodologies and is not directly comparable to modern FBI statistics. Experts told PolitiFact that the rate is likely a 65-year low with high confidence, while the 125-year claim is less certain because it relies on incompatible pre-1960 data. The White House and Fox News have also cited the 125-year characterization. Trump’s claim about the largest single-year drop in recorded history is well-supported; the “125 years” framing is disputed.
Sources: Council on Criminal Justice, Crime Trends in U.S. Cities: Year-End 2025 Update (January 2026); PolitiFact (February 12, 2026); Council on Criminal Justice (January 22, 2026).
10. Rubio Remarks: Alliance as Friendship, Not Just Diplomacy
Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke briefly after Trump, making two main points in English and Spanish.
In English, Rubio distinguished the assembled nations from mere treaty allies: “These are countries that have been there for us, and these are leaders that are not just allies, they are friends.”
Rubio then addressed the assembled leaders in Spanish directly — prompting Trump to quip, “We don’t need an interpreter for this one” — summarizing the summit’s purpose and pledging partnership in economic and security development. In translation:
“These are not just allies, they are friends. They are countries that always respond when there is a need and work together with us… We want to be their partners in developing their countries, their economies, and their security.”
He closed in Spanish by saying future generations would thank them for the work being done today. After Rubio sat down, Trump joked: “Is he better in Spanish or in English? I think he’s better in Spanish.”
11. Hegseth Remarks: “Donroe Doctrine” and Action Coalition
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth kept his remarks brief but substantive, framing the summit within a larger doctrinal framework.
He opened by lightly ribbing Rubio: “I only speak American.” (Rubio retorted: “That’s all right, we speak Cuban.”)
Hegseth emphasized that the ACCC would be an active military force rather than a diplomatic body: “It’s an action coalition of like-minded countries who are gonna bring their capabilities to bear, with American leadership at the forefront, to ensure we attack and get after this cartel challenge.”
He invoked the Monroe Doctrine: “President Trump has established the Trump Corollary of the Monroe Doctrine, the Donroe Doctrine, and the War Department is implementing it as fast as we can.”
He made a pointed critique of past U.S. foreign policy focus: “For far too long, our country’s gaze was only on borders in far-flung places, uh, not our own border, not our own hemisphere, not the Western hemisphere.”
12. Proclamation Signing
The event concluded with Trump inviting the assembled foreign leaders to gather for the signing of a formal proclamation launching the America’s Counter Cartel Coalition. The White House released the proclamation the same day, formally committing the U.S. to military force against designated cartel and terrorist organizations in the Western Hemisphere.
Citation
“Speech: Donald Trump Addresses the Shield of the Americas Summit in Doral, Florida – March 7, 2026.” Factbase / CQ Roll Call, 7 Mar. 2026, factba.se. Transcript.