WASHINGTON _ President Donald Trump, a commander in chief who occasionally directs foreign policy from his Twitter account, on Monday sought to define his overarching plan for keeping the country secure, releasing a lengthy national security strategy paper in advance of a speech distilling its "America first" theme.
Trump described his approach to national security as one that "puts America first" and relies on a "clear-eyed" assessment of U.S. interests, reflecting that he sees the United States locked in a global competition in which America's economic prosperity and national security are closely linked.
"I pledged that we would revitalize the American economy, rebuild our military, defend our borders, protect our sovereignty, and advance our values," Trump wrote in an introduction to his 53-page national security strategy released Monday.
The strategy, which White House officials have spent months drafting and Trump wanted to roll out personally, is based on four pillars: protecting the homeland by restricting immigration; pressuring trading partners; building up the military; and otherwise increasing U.S. influence globally.
It describes the major threats facing the U.S. as the nuclear weapons programs in North Korea and Iran, the proliferation of radical Islamist terror groups, "porous borders and unenforced immigration laws" and unfair trade practices that Trump says have weakened the economy and sent American jobs overseas.
Even so, in Trump's first year, North Korea has made significant progress in developing both nuclear weaponry and intercontinental ballistic missiles that could deliver the arms to American territory. Iran's nuclear program has been on ice because of the international deal brokered by former President Barack Obama, but Trump wants to rip that up. He has made no discernible progress in renegotiating trade deals, and companies have continued to create jobs in foreign nations.
Trump's strategy overview reflects a break from the approach of both his Democratic and Republican predecessors.
In contrast to Obama, who emphasized global cooperation and alliances, Trump sees the U.S. protecting its own sovereignty and facing off with "revisionist" world powers such as China and Russia. Those countries are seen as being antagonistic, trying to tip the global status quo in their favor by expanding their spheres of influence beyond those set after the end of the Cold War.
Yet Trump's relations with the leaders of both countries, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin, have been remarkably warm, warmer even than Trump's contacts with the leaders of the United States' longtime allies.
Unlike Obama's own strategy overview, the Trump administration doesn't consider climate change as a national security threat, even though the Pentagon has described refugee flows from drought, rising oceans and increasing storms as increasing the potential for global conflict.
In contrast with former President George W. Bush, the Trump strategy does not include the aim of spreading democracy abroad.
Trump emphasized his administration will show flexibility when dealing with competitors, including countries that may otherwise be adversaries _ an approach he calls "principled realism."
Trump did cite Russia for violating the sovereignty of Ukraine by annexing Crimea in 2014, though he said little about it during his campaign and into his presidency. He acknowledged that Russian intelligence officials have launched campaigns to undermine the legitimacy of democracies. Despite this, Trump has repeatedly praised Putin, and has seemed to accept Putin's denials that Russia interfered in the 2016 election _ though the denials conflict with the consensus of U.S. intelligence agencies. He argues that a better relationship with the Russian autocrat could help resolve conflicts in Syria and the nuclear standoff with North Korea.
Similarly, Trump has praised his "chemistry" with Chinese President Xi, though that rapport has not produced breakthroughs in areas of U.S. concern. China continues to increase its military presence on disputed islands in the South China Sea and maintains economic policies, including intellectual property theft, that hurt U.S. businesses.
