A day after Trump's bizarre statement that "we lost India and Russia to a deeper and darker China," an analysis by the American Politico unfolds the structural changes in US priorities, according to which the American defense strategy now prioritizes the protection of the "homeland" and the Western Hemisphere over even competition with China.
As the publication reports, US Pentagon officials are proposing to prioritize the protection of the US and the Western Hemisphere, in a striking reversal of the military's long-standing mandate to focus on the threat from China.
A draft of the latest National Defense Strategy, which reached Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s desk last week, prioritizes domestic and regional missions over countering adversaries like Beijing and Moscow, according to three people briefed on the matter.
The move would mark a significant shift from recent Democratic and Republican administrations, including Donald Trump’s first term, when he referred to Beijing as America’s greatest adversary. And it is likely to anger hawks in both parties, who see the Chinese government as a threat to American security.
“It will be a major shift for the United States and its allies on many continents,” said one of the people briefed on the draft document.
“Old, trusted American promises are being called into question.” The report is usually released at the start of each administration, and Hegseth could make significant changes to the plan.
But in many ways, the structural change is already happening. The Pentagon has activated thousands of National Guard troops to support law enforcement in Los Angeles and Washington, and has sent several warships and F-35 aircraft to the Caribbean to stem the flow of drugs into the United States.
A U.S. military operation this week reportedly killed 11 alleged members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang in international waters, a major step in the use of the military for missions that include assassinations of non-military targets.
The Pentagon has also established a militarized zone along the entire southern border with Mexico, allowing soldiers to arrest civilians, a job normally reserved for law enforcement. The new strategy would largely reverse the Trump administration’s first National Defense Strategy in 2018, which placed deterring China at the forefront of the Pentagon’s efforts. “It is increasingly clear that China and Russia want to shape a world according to their authoritarian model,” the opening paragraphs of that document said.
The shift “does not seem to align at all with President Trump’s aggressive views on China,” said a Republican foreign policy expert briefed on the report, speaking on condition of anonymity. The US president has maintained his tough rhetoric toward China, including imposing crushing tariffs on Beijing and accusing Chinese President Xi Jinping of “conspiring against the United States” after meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin at a military parade in the country’s capital.
Elbridge Colby, the Pentagon’s policy chief, is leading the new strategy.
He played a key role in writing the 2018 version during Trump’s first term and has been a proponent of a more isolationist U.S. policy.
Despite his long record as a “hawk” on China issues, Colby aligns with Vice President J.D. Vance in his desire to disentangle the United States from foreign commitments. Colby’s policy team is also responsible for an upcoming U.S. Global Posture Review, which outlines where U.S. troops are located around the world, and an Air and Missile Defense Review, which assesses U.S. and allied air defenses and makes recommendations for where to deploy U.S. defense systems.
The Pentagon is expected to release both reviews as soon as next month. A Pentagon spokesman declined to comment on the reviews. The White House did not respond to a request for comment. U.S. allies are particularly concerned about the implications of this structural change.
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