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A nation’s strategy is based on its ideas of the self, allies, enemies and interests. On all these aspects, Donald J. Trump has come to represent a radically different view from his predecessors, though his capacity to turn that into policy and action is uneven. On November 25, Mr. Trump released the National Security Strategy (NSS) of his second term, which is more in alignment with his America First politics than his first NSS in 2017. The NSS is a document that outlines the foreign policy thinking and approach of each President in each term. In his first term, Mr. Trump was still surrounded by the professional strategic class of the U.S. The 2017 NSS echoed familiar talking points of the past, leading many to conclude that Mr. Trump did not have plans or the capacity to shake off what Barack Obama had termed the ‘Washington playbook’. The second coming is different, and Mr. Trump’s new NSS makes that clear.
This assertion of Mr. Trump’s worldview in American strategy is most evident in the approach towards Russia and China. If he can push that through in the face of resistance and sabotage from within the U.S. establishment, NSS-2025 could form the basis of a new world order for the current century. In 2017, Russia was mentioned 25 times, always in negative terms, and 11 times along with China — clubbing these countries together as enemies of the U.S.
In 2025, Russia is mentioned 10 times and China 21 times, with no upfront acrimony towards either. Only once are they mentioned together, and that is to introspect on U.S. and European strategy towards both: “Today, German chemical companies are building some of the world’s largest processing plants in China, using Russian gas that they cannot obtain at home.” In 2017, Mr. Trump was confrontational towards China, but now he is more pragmatic, to use one of the qualities that the document attributes to him. The discussion on China borders on admiration — of how it managed to develop itself and gain a global footprint in manufacturing and technology — and blames American strategy for allowing China to achieve all this through globalisation.
In 2017, Russia was blamed in the NSS for threatening Europe, undermining democracy and interfering in elections — charges raised by Mr. Trump’s domestic opponents, who even linked his 2016 victory to Vladimir Putin’s machinations. “The United States and Europe will work together to counter Russian subversion and aggression,” the NSS said in 2017. In 2025, it is Europe that is excoriated for various reasons. As for Russia, it is a future partner, though the wording is less ambitious, in “re-establishing conditions of stability within Europe and strategic stability with Russia”.
Global dominance
India’s place in U.S. strategy has always been contextual, and the proposed changes could be beneficial for New Delhi. Any American strategy that seeks to drive the world into camps pushes India to take sides it does not want to. Mr. Trump doesn’t seem to be keen on reorienting international relations for any grand goals. The NSS discards the wisdom of Republican and Democratic administrations of recent decades that sought American primacy through trade treaties, international organisations and a global governance agenda. In fact, the NSS says the U.S. should not be seeking global dominance, or trying nation-building in other countries, and wants a default position of non-interference in the affairs of other nations unless core interests are threatened.
“The world’s fundamental political unit is and will remain the nation-state. It is natural and just that all nations put their interests first and guard their sovereignty. The world works best when nations prioritise their interests. The United States will put our own interests first and, in our relations with other nations, encourage them to prioritise their own interests as well. We stand for the sovereign rights of nations, against the sovereignty-sapping incursions of the most intrusive transnational organisations, and for reforming those institutions so that they assist rather than hinder individual sovereignty and further American interests,” the document reads.
It is his reframing of the idea of the American self and interests that makes Mr. Trump a radical departure from the country’s politics of the last half-century, which allowed liberal migration and trade. Core interests of the U.S. are in keeping the homeland safe, prosperous and stable, and its peripheries devoid of any outside players — a possible reference to Chinese influence in Latin America. The homeland needs to be insulated from economic threats and to re-industrialise, but equally importantly, its “spiritual and cultural health” must be preserved. Harder borders, curtailed immigration, and promotion of “strong traditional families” with “healthy children” are part of the plan.
It is exactly on this count that the NSS pushes Europe hard to rework its national and international politics. The document acknowledges the cultural links between Europe and the U.S., and by implication sees Russia also in the same sphere. While the dominance of anti-globalism in American politics is clear, Europe continues to be under the control of a pro-globalisation elite. The Trump administration is of the view that this elite control is made possible only through censorship and curtailment of democratic rights. There are nationalist movements in all European countries, and the NSS seeks to encourage them. The NSS is putting European governments on notice that the new compact of the continent will include Russia and exclude China. The U.S. would have a separate balance of power with China in the Pacific.
Political liberty
“The larger issues facing Europe include activities of the European Union and other transnational bodies that undermine political liberty and sovereignty, migration policies that are transforming the continent and creating strife, censorship of free speech and suppression of political opposition, cratering birth rates, and loss of national identities and self-confidence.”
While the NSS seeks to offer clarity on many issues, the debate within the U.S. on strategy is hardly settled. This document also reflects some of that confusion and contradiction. For instance, it says at one point that the U.S. does not want to dominate the world, but elsewhere it is clear about maintaining dominance in technology and finance, and even controlling global standards in frontier areas such as AI and critical minerals. It swings between taking pride in U.S. alliances and global leadership and discarding the wisdom of previous administrations. The general anti-war approach of Mr. Trump is not popular among America’s strategic community and its military-industrial complex. What Mr. Trump’s NSS could do to the world is clear, but whether it will pass the barriers of entrenched habits and interests of the Washington elite remains unclear.
Published – December 14, 2025 01:09 am IST
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America, First in the World
