Donald Trump Refuses to Learn Spanish at Shield of the Americas Event

Donald Trump says he's too busy to learn Spanish ... even while he works on a new initiative drawing Latin America deeper into the U.S.A.'s sphere of influence.

POTUS spoke at the first Shield of the Americas summit in Miami Saturday ... launching the new intiative which he told the crowd aims to "eradicate the criminal cartels plaguing our region."

Leaders from a dozen Latin American nations -- including Argentina, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Panama and more -- attended the event ... but, if they were hoping to hear President Trump speak their native tongue, it's time to put that pipe dream aside.

Check out the clip ... the prez tells the crowd Secretary of State Marco Rubio has an advantage in the language department over him ... because he speaks some Spanish -- whereas President Trump says he's "not learning your damn language. I don't have time."

DJT says he was alright with learning languages for school back in the day ... but, he'd rather just rely on the interpreters.

He then tells a story about an allegedly terrible interpreter who recently conveyed his thoughts in a meeting with a high-profile foreign leader ... which doesn't exactly inspire confidence that his "No hablo español" approach is the best for making himself understood in intense diplomatic discussions.

If Shield of the Americas sounds familiar, it's because it's been a major story in the news this week ... President Trump named Kristi Noem the special envoy to the commission after canning her from the Department of Homeland Security.

The 47th prez says a main feature of the agreement will be "using lethal military force to destroy the sinister cartels and terrorist networks" ... which sounds like a continuation of his administration's policy to blow up ships allegedly containing drugs. This policy has drawn criticism from some ... who allege it constitutes a war crime.