President Donald Trump has released a new national security strategy for the US. The strategy outlines plans to preserve US military and economic dominance as key factors of global peace and prosperity.
The document, released Monday, lays out the four “pillars” of US national security as protecting the homeland, promoting American prosperity, preserving “peace through strength” and advancing US influence.
First on the list of threats to the US, the strategy names “revisionist powers, such as China and Russia,” that seek to “shape a world antithetical to our interests and values.”
In the actual speech, Trump called China and Russia "rival powers" that "challenge American influence, values and wealth," but said that he was planning to work with them while putting American interests first.
Next on the list are regional “dictators that spread terror, threaten their neighbors, and pursue weapons of mass destruction” followed by “jihadist terrorists” and transnational criminal organizations.
To protect the US, Trump will “target threats at their source” and “confront threats before they ever reach our borders.”
In his speech, Trump criticized the actions of his predecessors saying that they “presided over one disappointment after another.” Their actions benefited foreign nations but stripped US of jobs and wealth, he said. While America was engaged in nation-building abroad, its rulers failed to build up and replenish the nation at home.
All that changed with last November's election, he said.
“With the strategy today, we are declaring that America is in the game and America is going to win,” Trump said.
Trump promised to expand America's influence in the world by building the wealth at home.
“Economic security is national security,” he said, promising to cut taxes and roll back regulations. He talked about the importance of complete rebuilding of US infrastructure - roads, bridges, railways, and communications.
Building the wall on the US-Mexican border and reforming US immigration laws are also integral parts of the new national security strategy.
“A nation without borders is not a nation,” the president said.
Trump also said that total modernization of American military and reversing previous decisions to shrink the armed forces are important, promising to get rid of the damaging defense sequester.
The White House has described the strategy as “principled realism” because it “acknowledges the central role of power in international politics, affirms that strong and sovereign states are the best hope for a peaceful world, and clearly defines our national interests,” but also “grounded in advancing American principles, which spreads peace and prosperity around the globe.”