President Donald Trump announced the creation of a new multinational military coalition aimed at dismantling criminal cartels across the Western Hemisphere, unveiling the initiative Saturday in Miami. The alliance, called the “Americas Counter Cartel Coalition,” also referred to as the “Shield of the Americas,” will include 17 participating countries committed to confronting cartel networks and related criminal organizations.
In a written proclamation, Trump described the coalition’s central mission as “a commitment to using lethal military force to destroy the sinister cartels and terrorist networks.” The announcement comes amid heightened regional tensions following the death of a major cartel leader in Mexico and a wave of retaliatory violence attributed to organized criminal groups.
The launch of the coalition also coincided with a leadership change in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Trump removed DHS Secretary Kristi Noem from her post and appointed her as the Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas, a role intended to coordinate cooperation among participating nations. Trump nominated U.S. Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) to serve as the next DHS secretary.
Trump’s proclamation outlined four guiding priorities for the coalition. The first emphasizes aggressive action against cartel networks: “Criminal cartels and foreign terrorist organizations in the Western Hemisphere should be demolished to the fullest extent possible consistent with applicable law.”
The second priority calls for coordinated international efforts to undermine the power and finances of these groups. “The United States and its allies should coordinate to deprive these organizations of any control of territory and access to financing or resources necessary to conduct their campaigns of violence,” the proclamation states.
A third component focuses on military cooperation and training. According to the proclamation, the U.S. will “train and mobilize partner nation militaries” in order to create conditions that support “the most effective fighting force necessary to dismantle cartels and their ability to export violence and pursue influence through organized intimidation.”
Finally, the coalition is tasked with preventing outside interference in the region. Trump’s proclamation notes the alliance must “keep external threats at bay, including malign foreign influences from outside the Western Hemisphere.”
The initiative builds on a policy shift Trump introduced on January 20, 2025, the day he was inaugurated, when he issued an executive order targeting cartel organizations. The order designated certain cartels as foreign terrorist organizations or Specially Designated Global Terrorists, citing their “campaign of violence and terror throughout the Western Hemisphere.”
Since that directive, U.S. authorities have detained and deported several alleged cartel members and affiliates. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials in Texas have played a role in these efforts, including the capture of suspected Sinaloa Cartel boss Leonardo Daniel Martinez Vera in Juarez, Mexico, in early November.
Regional security tensions escalated further after a joint Mexican military operation on February 22, supported by U.S. intelligence, killed Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho,” the leader of the Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación. In the aftermath, cartel groups reportedly responded with arson attacks, setting fire to vehicles and buildings—including a Costco grocery store in Puerto Vallarta—and blocking roads across several areas.
Those incidents prompted heightened security measures along the Texas border and shelter-in-place warnings from the U.S. Embassy.
While speaking alongside leaders from several coalition nations—including Argentina, El Salvador, Chile, Costa Rica, Bolivia, Trinidad and Tobago, Honduras, Panama, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guyana, and Paraguay—Trump urged continued cooperation. “We’ll get rid of them. We need your help,” he said.
