The State Department notified Congress on Tuesday that it will reprogram $52 million in Foreign Military Financing — taxpayer dollars partners use to buy U.S. defense equipment — from Slovakia, North Macedonia, Tunisia, and Iraq to Panama, Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia. The recipients are governments in the Americas that have aligned with Trump on security priorities, as the White House revives Monroe Doctrine claims to hemispheric primacy.

Tuesday’s notification puts money behind that priority. The November 2025 National Security Strategy says the United States “will deny non-Hemispheric competitors the ability to position forces or other threatening capabilities, or to own or control strategically vital assets, in our Hemisphere.” The same document frames a Trump Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine as restoring American preeminence after years of neglect. On March 5, 2026, at a SOUTHCOM Americas Counter Cartel event, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said, “President Trump has reestablished the Monroe Doctrine, the Trump corollary of the Monroe Doctrine, or if you’d like, for short, you can just call it the Donroe Doctrine.”

Europe Cuts As A Running Pattern

The shift is the latest in a series of moves that have reduced either money or troop deployments to Europe after Trump’s complaints that NATO allies spend too little on defense. Slovakia and North Macedonia are NATO members. The FY2026 National Defense Authorization Act restricts cuts to U.S. force posture in Europe without certification to Congress, and Sen. Tim Kaine has pressed that line.

The notice does not eliminate FMF for Slovakia, North Macedonia, Tunisia, or Iraq.

Canal, Narcoterrorism, And Adversary Footholds

State said the redirected money would “combat narcoterrorism in our backyard and help continue to secure the Panama Canal,” and that it would “prevent adversaries from establishing strategic footholds in our hemisphere.” Officials have linked that footholds language to Chinese influence in Latin America. The department also said the current distribution of financing does “not align with the administration’s prioritization of” the Western Hemisphere and that the region has been historically neglected in U.S. military assistance.

Rubio’s Trip Through The Region

Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru last week and pledged deeper security cooperation against drug trafficking and illegal immigration. In Quito on Sept. 9 he said he would ask Congress for $45 million in additional security funding for Ecuador — a separate request from Tuesday’s $52 million reprogramming — plus a $10 million initiative on illegal gold mining, gangs, and illicit finance, and announced Coast Guard and interceptor vessel transfers.

The Missing Country Breakdown

State has not published how the $52 million breaks down among Panama, Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia, or how much Foreign Military Financing remains for Slovakia, North Macedonia, Tunisia, and Iraq.