The U.S. Department of Defense has unveiled a new National Defense Strategy that prioritizes homeland security over countering China and calls on allies to assume greater responsibility for their own defense, signaling a shift to more limited American military support abroad.
The 34-page document, released late Friday, marks a significant departure from previous strategies by naming the security of the U.S. homeland and Western Hemisphere as the Pentagon’s top concern, rather than China, which had been the focus under the Biden administration. It criticizes U.S. allies in Europe and Asia for relying on Washington to subsidize their defense and urges them to take the lead against threats that are more severe for them, such as Russia and North Korea, while the U.S. provides “critical but more limited” support.
The strategy reinforces President Donald Trump’s “America First” philosophy, emphasizing that the U.S. will no longer conflate its interests with those of the rest of the world and will focus on concrete American benefits, as seen in recent actions like the ouster of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Specific attention is given to key strategic areas, with the Pentagon vowing to guarantee U.S. access to terrain like the Panama Canal and Greenland, following Trump’s efforts to secure influence in the Arctic region.
In the Indo-Pacific, the document downplays the threat from China, aiming for stable relations and fair trade, and notably omits any mention of Taiwan, a shift from previous commitments to support the island’s self-defense. For Europe, the strategy asserts that NATO allies are capable of handling conventional defense against Russia, which is described as a “persistent but manageable threat,” potentially leading to reduced U.S. troop presence on the alliance’s eastern borders.
The shift has raised concerns among allies, as evidenced by recent tensions at the World Economic Forum, where Trump criticized NATO and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney warned of a changing world order. Looking ahead, this defense strategy is likely to reshape global alliances and military cooperation, with the U.S. adopting a more restrained role that could encourage greater self-reliance among partners but also strain diplomatic relations.
