Return to Rationalism: America First Is the National Security Strategy

Trump’s decidedly different plan to fortify the country’s position as the world’s military and economic leader.

On Dec. 4, the Trump administration released a National Security Strategy (NSS) that provided a clear-eyed perspective on geopolitics. Previous administrations had fallen short in describing global military threats, economic challenges, and a vision for the future. The Biden White House couldn’t get past climate change mythology, painting the world as it wished it were, not as it is. President Donald Trump has taken a decidedly different and more realistic view of what the United States faces as the world’s military and economic leader.

The Current NSS Is a Better Strategy

Previous versions of the NSS have, for the most part, been lists of threats and challenges, without prudent strategies to address them. An example of a practical strategy put into action for winning World War II was Europe First. A clear and concise goal, and all operations were designed to be subordinate to that concept.

In the 2025 NSS, the Trump administration has captured what a national security strategy should be. President Trump’s cover letter was crystal clear: “In everything we do, we are putting America First.” Consequently, every aspect in the NSS flows toward that goal. It’s more than a slogan; it is a rational approach to keeping America safe in a hostile world. The NSS opened with three logical questions, whose answers shape the document: “The questions before us now are: 1) What should the United States want? 2) What are our available means to get it? and 3) How can we connect ends and means into a viable National Security Strategy?”

What the country requires is safety and survival as a sovereign republic, which includes having the strongest military, with deterrence provided by a credible nuclear capability and a formidable economy. The NSS also addresses the necessity for the “restoration and reinvigoration of American spiritual and cultural health.”

The strategy lists a host of American assets that can be applied to achieve its identified goals. Among these are the world’s “largest and [most] innovative economy,” the most powerful and capable military, and a geography with “abundant natural resources, [and] no competing powers physically dominant in our Hemisphere,” inhibiting risk of invasion. Other pluses include a “robust” domestic agenda that roots out and eliminates “’DEI’ and other discriminatory and anti-competitive practices that degrade our institutions and hold us back,” the increase in “enormous energy production capacity as a strategic priority,” and “reindustrializing our economy.”

Answering the “how” question, the NSS explains:

“President Trump’s foreign policy is pragmatic without being ‘pragmatist,’ realistic without being ‘realist,’ principled without being ‘idealistic,’ muscular without being ‘hawkish,’ and restrained without being ‘dovish.’ It is not grounded in traditional political ideology. It is motivated above all by what works for America — or, in two words, ‘America First.’”

Unlike past iterations of the NSS, the 2025 Strategy does not treat individual countries as threats or helpmates. It focuses instead on regions. The top priority is the Western Hemisphere, identified as the  “’Trump Corollary’ to the Monroe Doctrine,” which outlines “a common-sense and potent restoration of American power and priorities, consistent with American security interests.” As part of a world community, the United States seeks “to ensure that the Western Hemisphere remains reasonably stable and well governed” and desires the region’s governments to cooperate in ridding the region of narco-terrorists and other transnational criminals. As for Chinese influence in the Western Hemisphere, the NSS wants to end “hostile foreign incursion or ownership of key assets.”

Enlisting Regional Champions Is Key to Objectives

Key in the Trump Corollary are the efforts to enlist “regional champions that can help create tolerable stability in the region, even beyond those partners’ borders.” The objective is to expand the network of countries with which the United States can forge strong relations. This is designed to halt the intrusive successes of America’s strategic enemies in the region.

Other areas fall in order of priority, such as Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Clearly, the significant concern is China, which the United States will address both economically and militarily. “Going forward, we will rebalance America’s economic relationship with China, prioritizing reciprocity and fairness to restore American economic independence.” From a military perspective, achieving a “favorable conventional military balance remains an essential component of strategic competition.” This will involve building the capability to stop Chinese aggression toward Taiwan.

The NSS intends to solidify Europe to stop its internal cultural erosion and re-establish its military prowess. That includes the key objectives of “expeditious cessation of hostilities in Ukraine” and the creation of strategic stability with Russia. The Middle East and Africa present opportunities to shift the burden of peacekeeping among the Gulf States, to build stronger economic ties, and to secure critical natural resources with friendly African nations.

This guiding national security document is rational and realistic, viewing the world as it is, not as we might want to see it. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth encapsulated the core message in his address to the Reagan National Defense Forum when he observed, “The Department of War, at the President’s direction, is laser focused on advancing America First, peace through strength, common sense efforts.” It’s succinct, meaningful, and simple to grasp.

The views expressed are those of the author and not of any other affiliate.