U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau traveled to Haiti and the Dominican Republic for two days of talks on security, economic cooperation and regional stability, a high-level Trump administration visit that unfolded as Haitian authorities faced another deadly clash with armed gangs in the country’s central Artibonite region.

The State Department said Landau’s May 29-30 trip would include meetings in Haiti and the Dominican Republic focused on “mutual economic and commercial interests” and regional priorities, including security. The itinerary placed one of Washington’s senior diplomats in the middle of a crisis that has made Haiti one of the most urgent foreign policy tests in the Western Hemisphere, while elevating the Dominican Republic’s role as a frontline U.S. partner on migration, trade and counternarcotics.

In Haiti, Landau met Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, Haitian National Police officials and representatives of a U.N.-backed gang suppression force. The visit came as Haitian police said they were sending reinforcements to Artibonite, where security forces were battling heavily armed men in an area that has been under sustained gang pressure. According to Associated Press reporting, three police officers and a civilian were killed Friday during an operation to retake control of territory in the region.

Landau framed the Haiti stop as directly connected to U.S. interests. “Security, stability, and prosperity in Haiti is in both our nations’ interests,” he wrote on X, according to the AP. The line captured Washington’s central argument: Haiti’s collapse is not a distant humanitarian emergency but a nearby security challenge with implications for the Caribbean, U.S. borders, maritime routes and Haitian American communities.

The Artibonite violence underscored the difficulty of that mission. The Gran Grif gang, one of Haiti’s most feared armed groups, has been accused of killing dozens of people over the past year and is a major driver of insecurity in the region. The U.N. Security Council has described Gran Grif as the largest gang in Haiti’s Artibonite Department and said it has attacked Haitian police as well as the U.N.-authorized Multinational Security Support mission. The group has also been linked to intimidation, killings, forced displacement and attacks on local communities.

Haiti’s crisis has deepened despite repeated international efforts to bolster the Haitian police. The U.N. Integrated Office in Haiti said in early May that more than 1,600 people were killed in the first quarter of 2026, calling the human rights situation “extremely worrying.” Humanitarian agencies have also warned that displacement has reached record levels, with families fleeing gang-controlled neighborhoods and rural communities as armed groups expand beyond the capital.

For the Trump administration, the visit puts renewed attention on whether U.S.-backed security initiatives can produce measurable gains after years of deteriorating conditions. Washington has supported international efforts to reinforce Haitian police and contain gang expansion, but those efforts have faced questions over funding, staffing, command structure and operational reach. The latest push comes as gangs remain entrenched in parts of Port-au-Prince and increasingly active in central areas that are crucial to food production and road access.

Landau’s second stop, the Dominican Republic, reflected a different but closely linked priority. Santo Domingo has become one of Washington’s most important Caribbean partners, not only because it shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti but also because of its role in regional trade, tourism, border enforcement and counternarcotics. President Luis Abinader said last November that he would allow U.S. operations in restricted areas of the Dominican Republic to support the fight against drug trafficking, according to AP reporting.

The Dominican government has taken a hard line on the spillover risks from Haiti, including border controls and migration enforcement. At the same time, it has had to balance security concerns with pressure from regional and international actors to keep channels open with Haitian authorities. Flights and formal contacts between the two neighbors have been affected in recent years by disputes over border management, migration and a canal project in northeastern Haiti, while gang violence has added a sharper security dimension to bilateral tensions.

The U.S. interest in the Dominican Republic also extends beyond the Haiti file. The country is a major Caribbean economy with close trade, tourism and diaspora ties to the United States. Its ports, airports and financial channels matter to U.S. commercial interests and law enforcement cooperation. Any deterioration in security across Hispaniola could affect U.S. travel advisories, business exposure, humanitarian operations and regional migration patterns.

Landau’s trip therefore served two overlapping purposes: reinforcing support for Haiti’s fragile authorities and signaling to the Dominican Republic that Washington views Santo Domingo as a key partner in the regional response. The sequencing was notable. By moving from Port-au-Prince to Santo Domingo, Landau linked Haiti’s internal security emergency to the broader Caribbean policy agenda, including counternarcotics, trade and cross-border stability.

The timing also matters politically in Washington. Haiti policy has long drawn scrutiny from lawmakers, diaspora groups and human rights advocates who question whether U.S. assistance is reaching the right institutions and whether international security deployments can protect civilians without strengthening unaccountable actors. The Trump administration’s approach is being watched for signs of whether it will rely more heavily on security tools, diplomatic pressure, sanctions, regional partners or some combination of all four.

There was no immediate indication from the State Department that the trip produced a new aid package, troop commitment or formal agreement. The public readout emphasized consultations and shared priorities rather than a single deliverable. That cautious framing may reflect the scale of the problem: Haiti’s crisis involves gang control, weak state institutions, economic paralysis, humanitarian need and a political transition that remains fragile.

Still, the presence of a deputy secretary in both countries sent a clear signal that Washington is keeping Haiti and the Dominican Republic high on its Western Hemisphere agenda. The administration is trying to reassure partners that it remains engaged while pressing for a security framework that can withstand the failures and delays that have plagued earlier stabilization efforts.

The immediate test will be whether diplomacy can translate into improved coordination on the ground. Haitian police continue to face heavily armed groups with limited resources. International forces remain dependent on political support, logistics and sustained funding. Dominican officials are seeking deeper U.S. cooperation while guarding their own border and domestic political priorities. For Washington, the challenge is to prevent Haiti’s crisis from widening while avoiding another open-ended intervention with uncertain results.

Landau’s visit did not resolve those tensions, but it clarified the stakes. The United States is treating security in Haiti, cooperation with the Dominican Republic and economic stability across the Caribbean as connected issues. As violence continues in Artibonite and beyond, that linkage will shape the next phase of U.S. diplomacy close to home.