President Donald Trump announced a new military coalition to tackle drug cartel violence in the Western Hemisphere at the Shield of the Americas Summit on Saturday.
Trump said the newly dubbed “Americas Counter Cartel Coalition” includes 17 countries across the Americas and is aimed at curbing drug violence from organized cartels.
“Representatives of 17 different nations formally entered this new alliance. The heart of our agreement is a commitment to using lethal military force to destroy the sinister cartels and terrorist networks. Once and for all, we’ll get rid of them,” Trump said.
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The coalition announcement comes six months after the Trump administration began striking suspected drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean to curb cartel drug shipments in the region. Trump characterized the boat strikes and his administration’s work as “knocking the hell” out of the cartels, but vowed to “go heavier.”
“We knocked down drugs coming in by sea. Drugs coming in through water is down 96%,” Trump said, then joked about which boats could still be out there. “We’re trying to find out who the other 4% are, because I think they’re the bravest people in the world – either that or they don’t watch television.”
The President also signed a presidential proclamation titled “Commitment To Countering Cartel Criminal Activity” on Saturday, formally addressing the coalition as well. Trump wrote in the proclamation that by signing onto the agreement, the international leaders are “demonstrating that the region is ready to operationalize hard power to defeat these threats to our security and civilization.”
“We will address these grave dangers by use of any necessary resources and legally available authorities,” the proclamation to fight the cartels reads.
The Washington Examiner has reached out to the White House for comment on which 17 countries are part of the coalition.
The United States and Ecuador announced joint military operations on Wednesday against “designated terrorist organizations” in the country. US SOUTHCOM did not name the targeted organizations, only that they were narco-terrorists.
So far in 2026, several major players in the cartel world have been axed. The Mexican army took out the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, nicknamed “El Mencho,” in mid-February with the assistance of American intelligence. A week later, Colombia arrested a key leader of the Venezuelan-based terrorist organization Tren de Aragua using U.S. law enforcement assistance as well.
This all comes after the U.S. military ousted former Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, as the Justice Department brings a legal case against him for allegedly partnering with cartels like Tren de Aragua to traffic drugs into the U.S.
Also at the Shield of the Americas summit, Trump announced that Cuba’s communist regime is “at the end of the line.”
“As we achieve a historic transformation in Venezuela, we’re also looking forward to the great change that will soon be coming to Cuba. Cuba’s at the end of the line. They’re very much at the end of the line. They have no money. They have no oil,” Trump said.
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Trump told the dozens of Western Hemisphere leaders gathered at the event that U.S. foreign policy is currently focused on the war with Iran, but said Cuba will soon have “a great new life.”
“Our focus right now is on Iran, and we’ll do that. I would say, What will you do? Take about two days off, Marco? No, maybe an hour — he’ll take one hour off and then he’ll finish up a deal on Cuba,” Trump said, referring to Secretary of State Marco Rubio.