Chapter 1: What recent military actions has the Trump administration taken in Venezuela?
The reach of American might is rapidly spreading in real time. In the aftermath of recent U.S. military action in Venezuela, the Trump administration is considering targeting even more countries. Has the president's America First promise faded, giving rise to what some have called the Donro Doctrine? Hello and welcome to USA Today's The Excerpt. I'm Dana Taylor.
Today is Tuesday, January 13th, 2026. What months ago may have simply sounded like familiar bluster from President Donald Trump has now taken on a deadly serious tone.
Chapter 2: What are Trump's military plans for Iran and how has his rhetoric changed?
What are the president's plans for countries like Greenland, Colombia, Cuba and beyond? For more on that, I'm now joined by USA Today White House correspondent Francesca Chambers. It's good to have you here, Francesca.
Thanks, Dana.
Chapter 3: Why is Greenland a focus for the Trump administration now?
That's a long list of territories for us to cover.
We need to start with Iran because a lot happened over the weekend, and Trump has definitely amped up his rhetoric. What's happening there?
Well, the president says that he is looking at some very strong options when it comes to Iran, and then he'll make a determination. But no decisions have been made yet about... what the president might do in response to these protests. President Trump had previously said that if they start shooting, then we'll start shooting.
Chapter 4: How do Denmark and NATO countries respond to Trump's interest in Greenland?
But it isn't entirely clear at this point what kind of response militarily or otherwise, that the president may take to these protests. And while visibility into the situation in Iran has been difficult, and we've been unable to verify this number, the U.S.-based human rights activist news agency says that the death toll is around 500 people.
Why is the president focused on Greenland? Is there a pressing national security issue at play here? Or is this primarily about gaining control of natural resources?
Well, I think part of the reason that Greenland is coming up so frequently is partially because he's being asked about it, as well as senior officials. And so in response to that, the U.S.
Chapter 5: What is the U.S. strategy regarding military intervention in Cuba?
has repeatedly refused to rule out the military options. But it says that, you know, it would like to resolve this diplomatically if that's possible. But just taking a step back for a brought up this idea of America first and whether or not these things are essentially mutually exclusive with this robust military action he's hinting at here.
And the White House's perspective on this is that you can still be America first and but also be pursuing U.S. national security interests as part of that in some of these other countries. And they say that that was what was at play in Venezuela and then could potentially be at play in some of these other places like Greenland, which is a territory of Denmark.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers that Trump wants to buy Greenland, and Trump has said we can do this the easy way or the hard way. How have Denmark and other NATO countries responded? Could military action in Greenland effectively end the NATO alliance?
Chapter 6: How is Colombia viewed in the context of U.S. military strategy?
They've been responding to this with concern and saying that this is a NATO ally. This is a U.S. military ally. And it's up to the people of Denmark as well as the people of Greenland to determine what happens. Now, it's important to note that Denmark has repeatedly said that Greenland is not for sale. And opinion polls would show that the people of Greenland
They also are not interested in either becoming part of the United States or in leaving, you know, Denmark. And so the Trump administration, however, has continued to push forward with this idea that he came up with in his first term.
Chapter 7: What are the implications of U.S. military action in Mexico against drug cartels?
And they pointed to that in response to some of the growing interest in this debate to say this isn't a new idea. This is something that the president has long been pushing. It's notable and important, though, that now Secretary of State Marco Rubio says that he will be having a meeting with Denmark to have a conversation about this. That's not necessarily to say that the U.S.
is going to be putting some sort of an offer on the table to buy Greenland at that meeting, but that's more in response to the Danes saying that it's time to have a conversation.
Francesca, let's turn now to Cuba. For well over a century now, the U.S. has maintained a military presence on the small island nation at Guantanamo Bay. President Trump and Secretary Rubio have said Cuba is ready to fall. Have they spelled out why the U.S. is targeting Cuba?
Well, they believe that it's ready to fall in terms of the fact that it is so reliant on Venezuela. And so it's their belief, and not just their belief, by the way, experts who I've spoken to in the region, that by cutting off Venezuelan oil to Cuba, by cutting it off from the de Maduro regime, that the Cuban regime could be under a lot of economic pressure. And so that it could just collapse.
internally on its own. Now, there is some debate about how long that that could potentially take and what the U.S. 's role then would be in Cuba afterwards. But that's why it is that the president, as well as Secretary of State Marco Rubio, are now suggesting that maybe they don't need to take any military strikes or pull a Maduro-style action in Cuba to get the intended result.
And by the way, some experts think that part of the reason that they took the action they did in Venezuela was to try and bring about that eventual outcome in Cuba.
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Chapter 8: What concerns do lawmakers have about Trump's foreign policy and military interventions?
We've previously covered the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife. The question of oil looms large here, though, and is definitely worth another mention. Is the U.S. looking at a long-term military occupation in the interest of big oil?
Well, the president has said that he called off a potential second strike on Venezuela after he determined that the country was cooperating with the United States and released some political prisoners. But it still remains on the table. I mean, there's still a U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean. And the experts that I've spoken to have said that that's a thing that they're watching here is,
If the U.S. remains in the area, then that makes it a whole heck of a lot easier to carry out another strike on Venezuela in the future, which could be on the table because the president has said that if Delcy Rodriguez, the interim president, doesn't cooperate, that she could be paying a much bigger price than Maduro.
Now, as far as the oil goes, the United States says that it has already intercepted and quarantined the embargoed oil. It's going to be putting it on the market. It says that 30 to 50 million barrels have already been intercepted by the United States. And they're starting to lay out what that will look like in terms of who the money will go to.
That money, they say, will first go to paying back American companies that had had their businesses in Venezuela nationalized, and then it will go in some shape or form to the Venezuelan people. But we're still waiting to find out all the details of how exactly those things are going to work.
Venezuela isn't the only South American country on Trump's radar. What's going on with Colombia?
Yes, so Colombia is another one that the president has suggested was on his target list. He had said that Gustavo Petro, the country's president, was a sick man, and he said it was a sick country. Now, Petro notably... is due to leave office this summer. He is constitutionally barred from seeking another consecutive term.
And so Colombia is seen for many reasons as a country where Trump might actually be less likely to take action. I mean, namely because they're a key partner of the United States militarily. There's deep economic ties between the United States and Colombia, and no one's questioning Petro's election. Whereas in Colombia,
Venezuela, the United States has argued that he was an illegitimate leader because his last election is one that is widely disputed. That's not the same case in Colombia. And besides the fact, people close to the administration say that the fact that Petro is going to be leaving office soon means that there will be change coming either way.
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