Trump's new gunboat diplomacy in Latin America

His mix of handshakes and hostility appears aimed at bending countries to his will.

- PATRICK J. McDONNELL AND KATE LINTHICUM

PRESIDENT TRUMP has supported Latin American allies like Nayib Bukele, El Salvador's president.

They're blowing up boats in the high seas, threatening tariffs from Brazil to Mexico and punishing anyone deemed hostile - while lavishing aid and praise on allies all aboard with the White House program.

Welcome to the Monroe Doctrine 2.0, the Trump administration's bellicose, you're-with-us-or-against-us approach to Latin America.

Not yet a year into his term, President Trump seems intent on putting his footprint in "America's backyard" more than any recent predecessor. He came to office threatening to take back the Panama Canal, and now seems poised to launch a military attack on Venezuela and perhaps even drone strikes on cartel targets in Mexico. He vowed to withhold aid from Argentina if this week's legislative elections didn't go the way he wanted. They did.

"Every president comes in promising a new focus on Latin America, but the Trump administration is actually doing it," said James Bosworth, whose firm provides regional risk analysis. "There is no country in the region that is not questioning how the U.S. is playing Latin America right now."

Fearing a return to an era when U.S. intervention was the norm-from outright invasions to covert CIA operations to economic meddling - many Latin American leaders are trying to craft please-Trump strategies, with mixed success. But Trump's transactional proclivities, mercurial outbursts and bullying nature make him a volatile negotiating partner.