'Steel sharpens steel' – Sobers backs fresh wave of US military exercises in Trinidad and Tobago

Minister of Foreign and Caricom Affairs Sean Sobers said Trinidad and Tobago’s armed forces will hold a fresh wave of training exercises with the US military’s 22nd US Marine Expeditionary Unit.

At a media conference on November 14, Sobers said the exercises are set to take place from November 16-21.

Sobers said exercises will take place across the country and are part of the ongoing efforts to build capacity in the local armed forces.

"Steel sharpens steel," Sobers said.

“Essentially, we are building capacity. So for you to become better, stronger, brighter and faster, you have to train with someone that is stronger or has a better capacity than yourself,” he said.

He added, “Every time we get help with a foreign superpower, it should be something seen as special.”

Sobers also denied the exercises will be used as a front for the US intelligence gathering or any military operations outside of TT.

Sobers comments came 24 hours after Attorney General John Jeremie told the UK Financial Times that the US will "intensify exercises" in TT "in the coming days".

Jeremie made the revelation in an interview published on November 13, approximately two weeks after the 22nd US Marine Expeditionary Unit arrived in Trinidad aboard the USS Gravely for military exercises alongside the TT Defence Force from October 26-30.

“We are engaged with our friends in the north in a series of exercises,” Jeremie said.

Jeremie's announcement comes amid a declaration by US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on November 13 that Operation Southern Spear has been launched to "protect" the US from narco-terrorists.

Hegseth said "the Western hemisphere is America's neighbourhood – and we will protect it."

Hegseth said the operation was ordered by US President Donald Trump.