The White House announced on May 6 that U.S. President Donald Trump had signed the new United States Counterterrorism Strategy on May 5. The strategy emphasizes the administration's intent to focus on transnational gangs, Islamist extremist terrorists and left-wing extremists, according to a White House publication.

Over the last year, the Trump administration has repeatedly stated its intent to expand its national security focus on combatting drug trafficking into the United States and has conducted dozens of strikes on drug trafficking vessels in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific Ocean in the last six months, in addition to expanding pressure on governments across the region. The administration has also expanded the U.S. government's focus on left-wing groups such as "antifa," a decentralized left-wing, anti-fascist movement.