Trump signs new counterterrorism strategy prioritizing Western Hemisphere cartels

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President Donald Trump signed off on a new U.S. counterterrorism strategy that elevates eliminating drug cartels in the Western Hemisphere to the administration’s highest priority, the White House announced Wednesday. The White House said the strategy is laid out in a 16-page document that comes after the administration’s updated national security strategy placed the hemisphere at the top of U.S. focus.

In the document, Trump wrote that the administration would not allow cartels and jihadists—or governments that support them—to “plot against our citizens with impunity.” He added that “Terrorists of any kind will not be allowed to find safe harbor here at home or attack us from abroad,” according to the White House release.

The announcement marks the latest step in the administration’s effort to keep attention on Western Hemisphere threats even as it confronts crises elsewhere, according to the Associated Press report. The White House described the counterterrorism strategy as a further consolidation of priorities tied to the hemisphere.

The report said the administration has been moving aggressively in the region, including actions tied to Venezuela and Cuba. It cited the administration’s push that includes the ouster of Nicolás Maduro as Venezuela’s president, as well as “dozens” of U.S. military strikes on alleged cartel drug boats and “new pressure” on Cuba’s communist government.

Sebastian Gorka, the White House counterterrorism czar who the White House said spearheaded the strategy, described the policy shift as a matter of comparative impact on Americans. In a telephone call with reporters, Gorka said the change acknowledges what he characterized as basic math: more Americans have been killed by cartels pushing illicit drugs into U.S. communities than American service members lost in conflicts around the globe since World War II.

Gorka also said the administration would pursue multiple tactics against the cartels, including “strangling their illicit funds” and “tracking their drug boats.” He said the administration would not permit cartels to “kill Americans on a massive scale,” in remarks carried by the Associated Press.

Beyond cartel elimination, the strategy lists other counterterrorism priorities, including targeting and destroying Islamic military groups that, according to the report, have capabilities to execute operations against the United States. The White House also said the strategy would identify and neutralize violent secular political groups with ideology it describes as anti-American, “radically pro-transgender,” or anarchist.

The document further calls for boosting efforts to prevent nonstate actors from obtaining weapons of mass destruction. The White House said Gorka planned meetings with allies later this week to discuss how partners can bolster their own counterterrorism strategies, and he told reporters the administration would measure allied seriousness by how much partners “bring to the table.”