Andrew Latham
ATLANTIC OCEAN (Oct. 29, 2019) USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) conducts high-speed turns in the Atlantic Ocean. Ford is at sea conducting sea trials following the in port portion of its 15 month post-shakedown availability. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Connor Loessin)
Key Points and Summary – USS Gerald R. Ford’s Caribbean patrol is more than counternarcotics theater; it signals a hemispheric-first grand strategy.
-Trump’s team is refortifying the Americas—using carrier presence, tariffs on Canada, and tougher rules for Mexico—to build a “continental fortress” that underwrites Indo-Pacific competition with China.
The U.S. Navy Gerald R. Ford–class aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) and the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) underway in the Atlantic Ocean on 4 June 2020, marking the first time a Gerald R. Ford–class and a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier operated together underway.
-Maritime denial in the Caribbean, scrutiny of Chinese port deals, and tighter border and supply-chain controls fuse into one deterrence system.
-The bet: consolidate power close to home, then project outward.
-Risks include miscalculation with Venezuela, trade blowback, and friction with allies, but advocates call the shift disciplined rather than isolationist.
The “Continental Fortress”: Why the U.S. Is Re-arming the Americas Now
The USS Gerald R. Ford’s gray silhouette cutting across the Caribbean horizon marks a decisive shift in American statecraft: U.S. foreign policy, long focused on policing the planet-wide Rules-Based International Order, is narrowing to a more restrained focus on the Western Hemisphere and the Indo-Pacific.
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