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Secretary of War Pete Hegseth indicated that some U.S. service members could be redeployed from Europe to the Western Hemisphere as the Trump administration ramps up its deadly campaign against drug cartels in South America, The Hill reported.
“Well, we’re definitely expanding our presence and our footprint in Central and South America with partners, and because of the bold move the president made in Venezuela,” Hegseth told reporters, referring to the U.S. military’s successful capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. “We have a whole new suite of options economically and militarily with partnerships.”
Hegseth mentioned the partnerships the U.S. has with Ecuador, Honduras, Guatemala and Panama, and that part of his job is to institute the national security strategy and the national defense strategy “which makes [it] very clear that we want more burden sharing” in Europe.
“And as we do that … some of those capabilities are going to move elsewhere, either back home to the big, beautiful base that we’re going to build that we announced a couple of days ago, or to a different posture in the Western Hemisphere as we get after these designated terrorist organizations,” the Pentagon chief told reporters in Colorado Springs, Colo.