“In everything we do, we are putting America first,” President Donald Trump declared in his newly released National Security Strategy. The Strategy enunciates ten principles that will guide United States policy in the years ahead.
The first principle is a focused definition of the U.S. national interest. “Since at least the end of the Cold War,” President Trump noted, “administrations have often published National Security Strategies that seek to expand the definition of America’s ‘national interest’ such that that almost no issue or endeavor is considered outside its scope.” America’s core national security interests, he said, “shall be our focus.”
Peace through strength is another core principle. “Countries or other actors sufficiently deterred from threatening American interests will not do so,” said the President.
President Trump affirmed predisposition to non-interventionism and what he calls “flexible realism” as guiding principles. “For a country whose interests are as numerous and diverse as ours, rigid adherence to non-interventionism is not possible,” he said.
“U.S. policy will be realistic about what is possible and desirable to seek in its dealings with other nations,” he declared. America seeks good relations and peaceful commercial relations with the nations of the world without imposing democratic or other social changes that differ widely from their traditions and histories.
President Trump noted that primacy of nations is a fundamental principle. “The world’s fundamental political unit is and will remain the nation-state,” he said. “The United States will unapologetically protect our own sovereignty,” he emphasized.
Balance of power is another core principle that will guide U.S. policy. “The United States cannot allow any nation to become so dominant that it could threaten our interests,” he said. The U.S. will work with allies and partners to maintain global and regional balances of power to prevent the emergence of dominant adversaries.
“American policy will be pro-worker, not merely pro-growth, and it will prioritize our own workers,” said President Trump. He also pledged that “from military alliances to trade relations and beyond, the United States will insist on being treated fairly by other countries.” America will no longer tolerate free-riding, trade imbalances, predatory economic practices, and other impositions that disadvantage American interests.
“In particular,” the President noted, “we expect our allies to spend far more of their national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on their own defense.”
Competence and merit are also core principles of American Strategy. “Where the best Americans are hired promoted, and honored,” said the President, “innovation and prosperity follow.”
President Trump affirmed that “In our every principle and action, America and Americans must always come first.”
“In everything we do, we are putting America first,” President Donald Trump declared in his newly released National Security Strategy. The Strategy enunciates ten principles that will guide United States policy in the years ahead.
