PNN – Unlike previous versions, the second Trump administration’s National Security Strategy document is not a technocratic or diplomatic text; it is a complete ideological statement.
The US National Security Strategy is an official document that every president must publish to provide a picture of the priorities, threats, the way power is used, and the overall direction of US foreign policy. But the significance of the document released during Donald Trump’s second administration is not simply in its “time” or “version”; its main significance lies in the ideological leap that this 33-page document has legitimized. This document is ostensibly written about American security, but in reality it is a naked picture of Washington’s official return to power politics, disregard for the world, and the reckless and undisguised pursuit of national interests.
The new Trump doctrine repeats one claim multiple times: the United States no longer wants to be the world’s police, banker, or savior. But this very sentence carries a completely opposite meaning beneath the surface, because by limiting its global commitments, the United States in fact wants to concentrate its energy on rebuilding an economic, technological, and geopolitical empire in the Western Hemisphere and other vital regions.
In this document, Trump describes the ideology governing Washington during the three decades after the Cold War as “fantasy and self-destruction,” and he also claims that his administration is the only path that can return America to a “golden age.” The document simultaneously pursues several important objectives:
Legitimizing Trump’s nationalist and unilateralist approach.
Open economic aggression against China.
Redefining Europe as a weak but obligated ally.
Downgrading the Middle East from an urgent issue to a secondary one.
Consolidating a hard-line approach toward Iran.
The following sections examine the various dimensions of this document and the message it conveys to the world.
Read more:
New US National Security Strategy: Adjusting Global Presence and Focusing on Threats
- What does America want? Trump’s narrative of “vital interests”
The Trump document is based on the assumption that from the 1990s until today, the United States has taken the wrong path—one that, according to its authors, has driven Washington toward endless wars, reckless globalization, costly alliances, and uncontrolled immigration policies. The document stresses that instead of acting as a global ruler, the United States must be the ruler of its own land.
At the core of the document lie several key goals:
Protecting American territory from any military, cyber, economic, or cultural threat.
Full control of the borders and ending “mass migration.”
Rebuilding America’s industrial power by bringing manufacturing back.
Complete dominance in the energy sector.
Maintaining technological superiority in fields such as artificial intelligence, quantum, and biotechnology.
Reviving America’s “cultural identity” with an emphasis on the traditional family.
The document repeatedly attempts to show that the era of liberal cosmopolitanism has ended and that for its survival, America must act “harder, more closed, and more self-sufficient.” This is what Trump calls a “return to realism.”
- America’s tools: rebuilding the military, industry, economy, and borders
In this document, America’s power is described as a combination of four tools:
- a) Economy and industry
Trump believes globalization has benefitted China and destroyed American industry. Thus, re-industrialization, heavy tariffs, support for domestic production, and control of supply chains are introduced as the main pillars of national power.
- b) Military
The document emphasizes maintaining “the deadliest military in the world” and sets forth an ambitious goal: creating a national missile defense shield similar to the “Iron Dome,” but on a continental scale.
- c) Technology
America’s scientific superiority in emerging technologies is not only an instrument of security but the backbone of its competition with China.
- d) Border control
The document repeatedly describes border security as “the most important part of national security” and calls mass migration a “civilizational threat” to America.
- The Western Hemisphere: an official return to the Monroe Doctrine
The section on the Western Hemisphere is the most significant geopolitical portion of the document. Trump declares explicitly that the United States will no longer allow powers such as China, Russia, or even Iran to gain influence in this region. The document introduces a new phrase: “Trump’s amendment to the Monroe Doctrine.” This amendment means:
A ban on any foreign military presence in the entire hemisphere.
Confronting the purchase of ports, airports, and key industries by non-Western countries.
Increasing U.S. military presence in the region.
Conditioning aid and alliances on “political obedience.”
The ultimate goal is to return Latin America from a global competition arena to Washington’s “traditional backyard.”
- China and Asia: a return to long-term confrontation
In the section on Asia, the document refers to China in severe terms, saying Beijing has become a geopolitical rival “with American money.” From Trump’s perspective, U.S. policy toward China should include:
Restricting trade in sensitive sectors.
Transferring supply chains to the United States and its allies.
Strengthening the Indo-Pacific alliance.
Heavy pressure to increase Japan’s and South Korea’s military spending.
Maintaining superiority in dual-use technologies.
Establishing solid deterrence in the South China Sea.
Trump identifies China as the only actor capable of “knocking America off its superpower status,” and therefore confronting China is the central pillar of his strategy.
- Europe: a tired and declining ally
The document adopts an unusually critical tone toward Europe, portraying it as a continent facing identity crises, mass migration, censorship, population decline, and economic weakness. In Trump’s view, Europe must:
Pay its own defense costs.
End the Ukraine war immediately.
Increase its industrial and economic dependence on the United States.
Support nationalist policies.
The document states openly that the United States is no longer willing to bear Europe’s defense burden.
- The Middle East: low priority but viewed through a security lens
The new National Security Strategy describes the Middle East as a “former constant nuisance” and claims that its importance has decreased. The reasons for this downgraded importance include:
Increased domestic energy production in the United States.
Reduced U.S. economic dependence on Middle Eastern oil.
Iran’s relative weakness due to actions by the U.S. and Israel.
The potential expansion of the Abraham Accords.
But despite this reduced focus, the document emphasizes several red lines:
Preventing Gulf energy resources from falling into the hands of “America’s enemies.”
Keeping the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea open.
Preventing the formation of terrorist bases.
Preserving Israel’s security.
The document claims that Iran’s “position” has been severely weakened over the past two years due to Israeli operations and the Trump administration’s “midnight hammer” against Tehran’s nuclear program. Iran is mentioned three times as “the most destabilizing actor in the region.”
- Africa: an end to free aid and the beginning of profitable investment
Trump stresses that the era of free assistance to Africa is over. The continent is viewed not as a “moral obligation” but as a “source of critical minerals and a profitable partner.” Relations with African countries are to be structured around trade, American access to key resources, and cooperation in migration control.
- The political messages of the document
The National Security Strategy of Trump’s second administration carries three major messages:
First message: America claims it does not want to run the world, but in practice it seeks to shape a world dependent on American standards.
Second message: The main focus is on economy, technology, energy, and border control—meaning the United States has shifted from “military intervention” to “economic-technological intervention.”
Third message: Iran, China, and networks of power independent from the West are defined as the main threats.
Conclusion
The National Security Strategy of Trump’s second administration, unlike previous versions, is not a technocratic or diplomatic document; it is a fully ideological manifesto. It is an attempt at a fundamental redefinition of America’s role in the world. Washington is no longer pursuing a “liberal international order,” but a “security-economic order based on absolute American priority.”
In this document:
Europe is portrayed as a weak ally that must pay its own costs.
China is depicted as the primary threat that must be contained.
The Western Hemisphere is described as a region that must remain entirely under U.S. control.
The Middle East is depicted as a region that has lost its economic importance but must remain under security supervision.
Iran is identified as an actor that must be weakened and contained.
Ultimately, the document paints a picture of an America seeking renewed power, economic prosperity, unilateralism, and reduced global commitments—while still aiming to preserve geopolitical and economic dominance over the world.
Trump concludes the document with the claim that America will be “greater than ever.” But in reality, this strategy is above all a sign of a new era of competition, polarization, and global instability—an era in which the United States intends to preserve its position by any means necessary, even at the cost of greater pressure on the world, the weakening of international security structures, and rising geopolitical tensions.