Trump security plan foresees era of rivalry
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump declared a new national security strategy on Monday, echoing the message of his 2016 campaign.
He declared that “America is in the game and America is going to win,” even as it faces growing competition from Russia and China, two rivals that he said “seek to challenge U.S. influence, values and wealth.”
In a speech at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, Trump faulted previous U.S. leaders for failing to look out for the nation’s citizens. He promised to seek openings to cooperate with rivals but added that “we will stand up for ourselves and we will stand up for our country like we have never stood up before.”
Trump’s strategy envisions nations in constant competition, brushes aside Barack Obama-era warnings on climate change and affirms that the United States will unilaterally defend its sovereignty, even if that means risking existing agreements with other countries that have been a crucial part of the U.S.’ foreign policy since the Cold War.
Revisiting many of his
campaign themes, the president argued that he has already seen improvements since taking office, pointing to the economy’s strong performance, his withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal and his intent to exit the Paris climate accord.
“America is coming back and coming back strong,” he said.
The strategy from the Republican president would sharply alter U.S. international relationships if fully implemented. It focuses on four main themes: protecting the homeland, promoting American prosperity, demonstrating peace through strength and advancing American influence in an ever-competitive world.
Trump’s doctrine holds that nation-states are in perpetual competition and that the U.S. must fight on all fronts to protect and defend its sovereignty from friend and foe alike. While the administration often says that “America first” does not mean “America alone,” the national security strategy makes clear that the United States will stand up for itself even at the cost of alienating allies.
Trump’s tone was decidedly more upbeat than the analysis in his own strategy. While he spoke of surging confidence and a fast-growing economy, the document describes a world that has been on a three-decade holiday from superpower rivalry and suggests that holiday is over.
“After being dismissed as a phenomenon of an earlier century, great power competition returned,” the document says.
POLICY BLUEPRINT
Trump broke with his two most recent predecessors, Presidents Obama and George W. Bush, in announcing the national security strategy himself. But Trump’s speech seemed divorced from the 55-page document, a blueprint for U.S. policy on matters including jihadi extremism, space exploration, biothreats and pandemics.
The previous national security strategy document, prepared by Obama in 2015, declared climate change an “urgent and growing threat to our national security.” The Trump plan removes that determination, following the administration’s plan to pull out of the Paris climate accord. The strategy sets a goal of being an “energy-dominant nation” but does say that the United States “recognizes the importance of environmental stewardship.”
In his remarks, Trump stressed his “serious plan to defend our homeland.” He called anew for construction of a border wall with Mexico and pledged to end “chain migration” of immigrants’ relatives and to close “loopholes that undermine enforcement” of immigration restrictions.
The strategy emphasizes that U.S. economic security is national security. In his remarks, Trump called for “firm action against unfair trade practices and intellectual property theft.”
The strategy also details the threats of “rogue regimes” like North Korea. It says that China and Russia “challenge American power, influence, and interests, attempting to erode American security and prosperity.”
While the document’s description of pushing back against China on trade is familiar from the campaign, its description of the challenge posed by Russia contrasts with Trump’s refusal to criticize Russian President Vladimir Putin for his seizure of Crimea, efforts to destabilize Ukraine and violations of a key nuclear treaty with the United States. The document describes Russia’s behavior in far more critical terms than Trump himself did.
China and Russia, the document says, “are determined to make economies less free and less fair, to grow their militaries, and to control information and data to repress their societies and expand their influence.”
“These competitions require the United States to rethink the policies of the past two decades — policies based on the assumption that engagement with rivals and their inclusion in international institutions and global commerce would turn them into benign actors and trustworthy partners,” the document says. “For the most part, this premise turned out to be false.”
Despite the international challenges, the document cites emerging opportunities to advance American interests in the Middle East. “Some of our partners are working together to reject radical ideologies, and key leaders are calling for a rejection of Islamist extremism and violence,” it says. “Encouraging political stability and sustainable prosperity would contribute to dampening the conditions that fuel sectarian grievances.”
The strategy document asserts that “for generations the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians has been understood as the prime irritant preventing peace and prosperity in the region. Today, the threats from radical jihadist terrorist organizations and the threat from Iran are creating the realization that Israel is not the cause of the region’s problems. States have increasingly found common interests with Israel in confronting common threats.”
Trump did not discuss Russian meddling in the 2016 election during his remarks, though the document also notes that “actors such as Russia are using information tools in an attempt to undermine the legitimacy of democracies.”
He noted during his remarks that Putin called him over the weekend to thank the CIA for help in stopping a terror plot in St. Petersburg.
“They were able to apprehend these terrorists before the event with no loss of life, and that’s a great thing and the way it’s supposed to work,” said Trump.
He added: “Our rivals are tough, they’re tenacious and committed to the long term, but so are we.”