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Trump launched the "Shield of the Americas" with Milei in the front row: a military coalition against narco-terrorism and China

The U.S. president brought together 12 allied Latin American leaders in Miami to sign a regional military cooperation agreement. Argentina was the only country in Latin America to back the attacks on Iran.

Donald Trump brought together twelve Latin American leaders on Saturday at the Doral Hotel in Miami to announce the creation of the "Shield of the Americas," a regional geopolitical and military coalition aimed at combating drug trafficking, dismantling criminal cartels and containing China's commercial influence on the continent. Argentine President Javier Milei was in the front row, ratifying Buenos Aires' unconditional alignment with Washington.

The day began when after 9 a.m., local time, Trump received the twelve Latin American leaders at the Doral Hotel — which he owns — and posed together for the official photo of the summit. Milei, identified by alphabetical order, occupied a prominent place in the second row.

In his inaugural address, the U.S. president did not skimp on bellicose rhetoric. "The heart of our agreement is a commitment to use lethal military force to destroy sinister cartels and terrorist networks once and for all," he said. In addition, he announced the formation of the Anti-Cartel Coalition of the Americas, a military-oriented structure whose objective is to dismantle drug trafficking networks operating in the hemisphere.

Trump also took advantage of the stage to highlight his Argentine ally. Looking directly at Milei, he recalled his support during the October 2025 legislative elections: "He was a couple of points down, he went up like a rocket in Argentina," the Republican celebrated, in a reference to the favorable result obtained by La Libertad Avanza in the midterm elections.

The summit also formalized a larger geopolitical agenda: to curb China's expansion in Latin America. Washington sees President Xi Jinping as seeking to consolidate the region within its global supply chains, expanding its economic and political influence. However, the ongoing military conflict between the United States, Israel, and Iran shifted that axis to immediate security issues.

The alliance is made up of governments aligned with the regional right or center-right, all of them with close ties to the Trump administration:

The Argentine president arrived in Miami on Friday night and stayed at the Trump Doral hotel itself. He was accompanied by Karina Milei (Secretary General of the Presidency), Manuel Adorni (Chief of Staff) and Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno, who upon entering the summit hall held brief exchanges with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.

Upon taking the stage, Milei and Trump greeted each other with visible affection. Both posed with their thumbs up for photographers, in an image that has already become a recurring symbol of this alliance. The Argentine president began to listen to the speech without headphones for translation, although a few minutes later he put them on with the help of Quirno.

This ideological and strategic harmony with Washington is not new. From the beginning of his administration, Milei made alignment with Trump a central axis of his foreign policy. The Miami summit marks the president's 16th trip abroad since taking office, and strengthens that bond at a time of high international tension.

Although the summit was initially convened to counter China's influence, the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran—which began a week earlier—dominated much of the agenda. Trump maintained that the Iranian conflict is not a matter alien to the American continent, and stressed that Iran maintains strategic ties with Cuba, Nicaragua and Nicolás Maduro's regime in Venezuela.

"They are a cancer," Trump said, referring to criminal cartels and terrorist networks linked to Iran. He said recent military operations — including the downing of Iranian ships and communication systems — prevented Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, calling the result "a fifteen on a scale of ten."

According to reports, at the close of the summit, the Latin American leaders held bilateral meetings with Rubio and Bessent, in which trade and security issues specific to each country were discussed. Argentina negotiated aspects related to the trade agreement signed with the U.S. in November 2025.

After the summit, Milei participated in a working lunch with Trump, in which the negotiations of the bilateral agreement signed in November 2025 were discussed. He then attended the award ceremony of the Hispanic Prosperity Gala, organized by Latino Wall Street, and left for New York.

The launch of the Shield of the Americas marks a turning point in Washington's foreign policy toward the region. From the start of his second term, Trump sought to consolidate an alliance architecture centered on conservative leaders who share his vision on security, migration and free markets, while diplomatically isolating leftist governments such as Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua.

For Argentina, the alignment has concrete consequences: greater access to international financial markets, political support for organizations such as the IMF and a privileged position in the new hemispheric geometry that Washington is designing. But it also entails costs: isolation within the Latin American region, tensions with traditional Mercosur partners and exposure to the ups and downs of Trump's foreign policy.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is also expected to travel to Buenos Aires in the coming days  to meet with Milei and Foreign Minister Quirno, in what would be the highest-ranking visit of the U.S. government to Argentina since Milei took office.

📌  Sources: La Nación, Infobae, Perfil, Ambito Financiero, CNN en Español, France 24, Al Jazeera and Office of the President of Argentina (@OPRArgentina).

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