October 5, 2026
The decision of the administration of US President Donald Trump to redirect military aid worth more than $52 million towards four countries in Latin America sparked a political and legal crisis with Democratic lawmakers in Congress regarding the limits of the executive authority’s powers to dispose of previously allocated funds.
The Washington Post revealed, based on American officials, that the money that was allocated to Slovakia, North Macedonia, Tunisia and Iraq will be transferred to Colombia, Ecuador, Panama and Peru.
The US State Department notified Congress on September 15 of its intention to reallocate $52.1 million from the Foreign Military Financing Program, which was met with objection and immediate freeze by Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Democratic Representative Gregory Meeks. Despite this, the administration informed Congress of its insistence on moving forward with implementing the resolution.
The objections focused mainly on part of the funds approved within the additional annex to support Ukraine in 2022. Shaheen and Meeks confirmed that legislation specified these funds to respond to the repercussions of the war in Ukraine and assist the countries affected by it, considering that the administration did not provide sufficient legal justification to link its transfer to Latin America to that goal.
On the other hand, the State Department defended this step, stressing that it serves US national security priorities in the Western Hemisphere, especially combating drug smuggling networks, supporting the security of the Panama Canal, and strengthening security partnerships, in addition to limiting the efforts of rival powers to expand their military influence in the region.
These developments highlight the Trump administration’s increasing focus on Latin American countries as part of its foreign strategy, and expanding security cooperation to limit drug smuggling activities, at a time when Congress insists on adhering to its exclusive powers to determine foreign spending, while the White House insists on its right to rearrange priorities in accordance with the national security strategy.
