Trump’s Post-Globalist ‘Flexible Realism’

President Trump’s National Security Strategy can be summarized by the following bullet points:

1. Enforce the Monroe Doctrine to ensure U.S. predominance in the Western Hemisphere.
2. Establish and maintain a favorable balance of power in the Indo-Pacific.
3. Cede primary responsibility for the defense of Europe to European powers.
4. Maintain a favorable balance of power in the Middle East through support of key regional allies.
5. Ensure that the United States leads the world in technology, AI, biotech, and quantum computing.

To pursue, protect and preserve those vital interests, the United States requires unmatched economic and military power, a revived defense industrial base, a revitalized nuclear deterrent, energy independence and dominance, balanced trade, strong alliances in strategic regions of the globe, global cultural superiority, and a whole of government approach to achieve these goals.

Trump’s National Security Strategy emphasizes pragmatism, realism, muscularity, restraint, and eschews any tradition or ideology. Its sole motivation is “America First.” All domestic and foreign policies must meet the test of “what works for America,” what is best for America. Unlike previous presidential administrations since the 1930s, the Trump administration seeks to narrow, not expand, the definition of the “national interest.” As the National Security Strategy states: “America’s core national security interests shall be our focus.”