“They are looking to withdraw the U.S. from the entire world so that we enter an age of authoritarians who can carve it up,” Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told an audience in Munich, sharply criticizing the international approach of President Donald Trump and his allies. Speaking during a question-and-answer session, Ocasio-Cortez framed her comments around what she described as a growing global vulnerability to authoritarian influence, and underscored the need for renewed U.S. engagement with international institutions.
AOC: They are looking to withdraw the U.S. from the entire world so that we enter an age of authoritarians who can carve it up — where Donald Trump can command the Western Hemisphere and Latin America as his personal sandbox, where Putin can saber-rattle across Europe and try to… pic.twitter.com/LnrqceCleo
— Acyn (@Acyn) February 13, 2026
Ocasio-Cortez, a prominent progressive Democrat from New York, said that she and many colleagues attended the Munich session to highlight the dangers posed by what she called a “new era, domestically and globally.” She argued that the U.S. faces a choice between retreating from the rules-based international order or recommitting to democratic values and alliances. “Many leaders have said we will go back. I think we have to recognize that we are in a new day and a new time. But that does not mean the majority of Americans are ready to walk away from a rules-based order or from our commitment to democracy,” she said.
The congresswoman emphasized that the West’s selective enforcement of democratic norms has created vulnerabilities. She cited examples including the kidnapping of foreign leaders, threats to colonize Greenland, and ignoring ongoing genocides, framing these hypocrisies as opportunities for authoritarian powers to expand influence. “Hypocrisies are vulnerabilities, and they threaten democracies globally,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
She went on to warn that President Trump is attempting to assert unilateral control in the Western Hemisphere, while other authoritarian figures, including Vladimir Putin, exploit gaps in international coordination. “They are looking to withdraw the United States from the world, moving toward an age of authoritarianisms, where authoritarians carve out geographic domains — where Donald Trump commands the Western Hemisphere and Latin America as his personal sandbox, where Putin saber-rattles around Europe and tries to bully allies,” she said.
Ocasio-Cortez also highlighted the role of international aid and global partnerships in countering authoritarian influence. She called for revisiting commitments to organizations and agreements that the Trump administration withdrew from, including USAID programs, climate accords, and trade partnerships like the Trans-Pacific Partnership. “It is actually our global alliances, including trade partnerships, that can serve as a hard stop against authoritarian consolidation of power and the installation of regional puppet governments,” she said.
Her comments come amid ongoing speculation about the 2028 U.S. presidential race. According to predictions on Polymarket, Ocasio-Cortez currently has a 6% probability of winning the Democratic nomination, trailing other potential candidates including JD Vance at 25% and California Governor Gavin Newsom at 18%. The remarks in Munich have drawn attention to her foreign policy stance as she continues to build a national profile in the context of these early betting odds.
Ocasio-Cortez’s Munich remarks underscore her long-standing focus on international engagement, democratic norms, and opposition to authoritarianism. By framing global alliances as a tool to uphold democratic integrity, she positions herself as a critic of isolationist and unilateral approaches to U.S. foreign policy, particularly those associated with the ongoing Trump era.
