Late on Thursday, the administration of President Donald Trump quietly released its new national security strategy. The 33-page document promotes the “America First” doctrine and reflects a realignment of U.S. foreign policy, from redirecting military resources in the Western Hemisphere to an unprecedentedly confrontational approach to Europe.
The strategy focuses on Trump’s call for a “recalibration” of U.S. military presence in the Western Hemisphere to combat migration, drug trafficking, and the growing influence of hostile forces in the region.
The document outlines plans to expand the presence of the Coast Guard and Navy in the region, as well as deploy forces to “secure borders and defeat cartels, including, if necessary, with lethal force.” This is presented as a “Trump Corollary” to the 1823 Monroe Doctrine, which called on European powers to respect the U.S. sphere of influence in the West.
“United States preeminence in the Western Hemisphere is a prerequisite for our security and prosperity, allowing us to project power where and when we need to,” the document states.
This comes amid a deadly campaign against suspected drug vessels in international waters, which has resulted in the destruction of at least 23 vessels and the deaths of 87 people. Independent legal experts and some members of Congress have questioned the legality of these actions.
The strategy’s section on Europe is more stark, warning that European countries face “economic decline” that could be “eclipsed by the real and harsher prospect of civilizational erasure.”
The document asserts that “in the long term, it is entirely possible that within decades, some NATO members will become states with predominantly non-European populations,” raising an “open question” as to whether these countries will continue to view their alliance with the United States in the same way.
The administration’s strategy also claims that “the war in Ukraine has backfired, increasing Europe’s external dependency, particularly Germany’s,” and states that “most Europeans want peace, but this desire is not translated into policy due to governments’ subversion of democratic processes.”
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