The singular purpose of American foreign policy should be to advance American interests.
It’s a seemingly simple and obvious statement, but it represents a significant break with the philosophy that has animated U.S. foreign policy for the past three decades.
As a senator deeply invested in our nation’s security, I’ve long argued that our leaders must embrace a new doctrine of American realism to confront the challenges of the 21st century. President Donald Trump’s “America First” approach has done just that, unapologetically putting American power—both military and diplomatic—to use in service of American interests on the world stage.
This shift in our nation’s global posture has already had a dramatic effect. Take the example of NATO. For decades, American presidents politely asked NATO allies to increase defense spending, only to be met with half-hearted responses and stagnant budgets. Dwight Eisenhower warned of a “dry well” in 1953, just four years after NATO’s founding. Lyndon Johnson pushed for burden sharing to offset American military expenses in Europe. George W. Bush pressed for greater burden-sharing during our post-9/11 wars. Barack Obama reiterated the call after Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, with Defense Secretary Robert Gates bluntly warning against Europe’s “demilitarization.” Yet by 2017, only three allies had met the 2 percent GDP target agreed to in 2014.
But Trump demanded accountability and got results. By insisting that our European allies shoulder more of their own defense burden, Trump forced a long-overdue reckoning that culminated in a surge of European defense spending. At the 2025 NATO Summit, our allies committed to a new target of 5 percent of GDP on defense by 2035. European nations are now enacting significant increases in their military budgets. This shift, brought about in part by Trump’s leadership, will allow the United States to redirect as much as $100 billion annually from Europe to more pressing priorities in the Asia-Pacific.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member