The United States will reassert its dominance in the Western Hemisphere, build military strength in the Indo-Pacific and possibly reassess its relationship with Europe, US President Donald Trump said on Friday in a sweeping strategy document that seeks to reframe the country’s role in the world.
The National Security Strategy, released on Friday evening AEDT, described Trump’s vision as one of “flexible realism” and argued that the US should revive the 19th century Monroe Doctrine, which declared the Western Hemisphere was Washington’s zone of influence. It also warned that Europe is facing “the erasure of civilization” and must change course.
The document is the latest – and clearest – expression of Trump’s desire to shake up the post-World War II US-led order, building on a network of alliances and multilateral groups, and redefining it through his “America First” lens.
“President Trump’s foreign policy is pragmatic without being ‘pragmatic,’ realistic without being ‘realistic,’ principled without being ‘idealistic,’ muscular without being ‘hawkish,’ and restrained without being ‘dovish,'” the 29-page document said.
“It’s motivated primarily by what works for America.”
‘Restore American superiority’
The paper, which is issued by each new administration and guides the work of many government agencies, said Trump would restore U.S. preeminence in the Western Hemisphere and put the region at the top of the administration’s foreign policy priority list.
“This ‘Trump corollary’ of the Monroe Doctrine is a common-sense and forceful restoration of American power and priorities, consistent with American security interests,” the document says, suggesting that the major US military buildup in the region is not temporary.
Since taking office in January, critics say Trump’s rhetoric is reminiscent of contemporary imperialism in the Western Hemisphere. Early on, he spoke in vague terms about recapturing the Panama Canal Annex Greenland and Canada.
“The new National Security Strategy is quite clear that we will not go back to business as usual,” said Jason Marczak, a senior Latin America analyst at the Atlantic Council think tank in Washington.
The document also refers to China’s growing economic power in Latin America, which has concerned successive US administrations, and the aim to counter it.
In Asia, the document said, Trump wants to deter conflict with China over Taiwan and the South China Sea by building up the military power of the US and its allies.
Trump has a history of unconventional foreign policy moves, making it difficult to predict how this formalization of national security issues could translate into concrete actions.
Restore the ‘Western identity’ in Europe
In the document, the administration took a tough stance on its traditional allies in Europe, warning that the continent is facing the “extermination of civilization” and must change course if it wants to remain a reliable ally for the United States.
The document is the latest in a series of statements by US officials that have upended post-war assumptions about Europe’s close relationship with its strongest ally, the US.
“In the long term, it is more than likely that certain NATO members will become majority non-European within a few decades,” the document said.
The reaction in Europe was swift, with German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul saying the country did not need “advice from outside”.
The document is “unacceptable and dangerous,” France’s Valerie Hayer, head of the centrist group Renew Europe in the European Parliament, said on X.
According to Evan Feigenbaum, a former adviser to two US secretaries of state and an expert on Asia, “the European section is by far the most striking – and much more striking than the China/Asia sections.”
It “feels inherently more confrontational and portrays the US as firmly opposed to the entire European project with this line: ‘cultivating resistance to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations,’” he said in a post on X.
The Trump administration, the document said, wanted to restore “Western identity” in Europe. It comes as Trump has consistently used racist rhetoric against immigrants of color in the US.
The document states that it is in the US strategic interest to negotiate a quick solution in Ukraine and restore “strategic stability” with Russia.
Trump has a history of positive and admiring comments about Russian President Vladimir Putin, which have long led to criticism that he is “soft on Russia.”
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