Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem addressed participants at the Shield of the Americas Summit Working Lunch, emphasizing the importance of security and economic cooperation in the Western Hemisphere.
Rubio welcomed attendees, stating, "I want to welcome everybody. Bienvenido. Thank you for coming and being a part of this very important initiative. It’s a critical initiative. Obviously, we start with a strong focus on security, but there is so much more here. And as you’ve seen from – so much more we can work together on, and as you’ve seen from the cabinet members that are here today. Again, on behalf of the President – he is currently on his way to Dover Air Force Base to receive, sadly, the remains of the six Americans who lost their lives in the operation against Iranian terrorism. And so he apologizes for not being able to join us for this lunch, but he knew you would understand."
He continued by highlighting the administration's commitment: "But he is very excited about this initiative, and I am personally very excited to be part of this with each of you today. It’s a top priority for us, and while there are clearly a focus on the security of the hemisphere, as you can see from the representation in our Cabinet, from Trade to Commerce to Energy to Treasury. And there is also a focus very strongly on the opportunities we have to work together economically, but you can’t have economic progress without security."
Rubio noted that Secretary Noem had been appointed as special envoy dedicated to strengthening relationships in the region: "And as evidence of the President’s strong commitment to this initiative, so that this is not just going to be something where we meet one time and have conversations and we meet once a year and put out a paper, we wanted it to be an issue of action. He has appointed Secretary Noem as the special envoy dedicated to this relationship. And you will see a lot of her; she’ll be very involved with each of you at a personal level, and on a daily and weekly and monthly level, to ensure that what we talk about here today and the work we do together continues on, and we can build upon that."
Noem expressed gratitude for her appointment: "Well, thank you, Secretary Rubio. I appreciate all of you being here today and for making this a priority. First of all, I offer thanks to our President, who had the vision to bring all of you, as world leaders, here to have the conversation on not just protecting your countries, but also protecting your neighbors and the Shield of Americas becoming a real vision."
She described her goals for regional cooperation: "This is intended to be a group that works together to make sure that we’re each defending our own sovereignty, we’re each defending our own security and economic prosperity, but then also continuing to build on these relationships to ensure that we can do that in a way that’s effective, defeating the enemies that we have amongst us in the cartel organizations which our country has designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations. But then also by adding that security element, we have an opportunity then to have economic prosperity that blesses all of our people."
Noem outlined recent actions taken under her leadership at Homeland Security: "So my background is I’m a farmer and a rancher that served in government, in Congress, as governor, and then as Secretary of Homeland Security. In the last year as Secretary of Homeland Security, we have focused on securing our border. We have transformed our country from one that was being invaded by enemies... We’ve secured that border. We’ve focused on removing public safety threats. And over three million people have been deported or removed from our country in the last year."
She referenced partnerships with El Salvador's President Bukele on security issues; efforts with Chile regarding cybersecurity; collaboration with Argentina's President Milei focusing on economic growth; ongoing work with Ecuador addressing drug trafficking; and broader engagement across Latin America.
Noem summarized future objectives: "Our objectives are going to be destroy the cartels... We’re also going keep our adversaries at bay... Those adversaries that wish to change our way of life...we want...to keep them out...and focus on building alliances amongst ourselves..."
She concluded by emphasizing migration control alongside sovereignty: "The first objective will be not just on sovereignty but also migration control...reverse these harmful foreign influences..." She offered direct contact information for ongoing collaboration among summit participants.
The summit reflects growing U.S.-led efforts toward collective security measures targeting transnational crime—including drug trafficking—and promoting stability throughout Latin America.
