The strategy is updated every four years. In the 34-page document, released on Friday, the US demands that its allies in Europe and Asia take greater responsibility for countering hostile countries, from Russia to North Korea, the AP writes. Washington no longer intends to “subsidize their defense.”
The US goal should be to "put Americans and their concrete interests first."
“Credible alternatives”
This means, among other things, that the Pentagon should provide the president with "credible options to ensure American military and commercial access to key areas from the Arctic to South America, especially Greenland, the American Gulf and the Panama Canal," the document says. "American Gulf" is the Trump administration's name for the Gulf of Mexico.
President Donald Trump has previously said that the United States, just like in the case of Greenland, should take control of the Panama Canal.
The previous National Defense Strategy was published in 2022 under President Joe Biden. At that time, China was described as the United States' main long-term challenge.
The goal now is neither to dominate, stifle, nor humiliate China, according to the new strategy.
"President Trump strives for stable peace, fair trade and respectful relations with China," the document states, according to the AP.
Taiwan – which Beijing considers part of China – is not mentioned. Biden's strategy, by contrast, emphasized US support for Taiwan.
Persistent threat
However, there is a provision stating that the United States should "prevent anyone, including China, from dominating us or our allies," the BBC points out .
Russia is described as "a persistent but manageable threat to NATO's eastern members for the foreseeable future."
According to the defense strategy, the US's NATO allies are today much more powerful than before and therefore "strongly positioned to take primary responsibility for Europe's conventional defense."
Another change, the AFP points out, is that climate change is no longer mentioned as a threat.
