by Thierry Meyssan

Donald Trump, whom European leaders generally consider a populist with no political experience, has published his new National Security Strategy, a clumsily written document, but one of considerable philosophical scope. In it, he presents himself as a master of diplomacy and proposes, following President Andrew Jackson’s slogan, to replace war with trade.

Voltaire Network | Paris (France) | 15 December 2025

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The White House’s publication of the 2025 National Security Strategy is a game-changer. It breaks with all previous documents, including the 2017 [1] document from President Donald Trump’s first term.

Both texts share a lengthy preliminary statement, but while the 2017 text aimed to “replace war with trade,” the 2025 text first addresses the questions of what the United States wants and what means it has at its disposal. It represents a complete reframing of national strategy.

Reframing

President Donald Trump writes: “First and foremost, we desire the continued survival and security of the United States as an independent and sovereign republic, whose government guarantees the inalienable natural rights of its citizens and prioritizes their well-being and interests. We want to protect this country, its people, its territory, its economy, and its way of life from military attack and hostile foreign influence, whether espionage, predatory trade practices, drug and human trafficking, destructive propaganda and influence operations, cultural subversion, or any other threat to our nation.”

To the second question, he defined the means as follows: “We want to ensure that the Western Hemisphere remains sufficiently stable and well-governed to prevent and discourage mass migration to the United States; we want a hemisphere whose governments cooperate with us against narco-terrorists, cartels, and other transnational criminal organizations; we want a hemisphere that remains free from hostile foreign influence. We commit to preventing any intrusion into or takeover of key assets essential to supporting critical supply chains and to ensuring our continued access to essential strategic sites. In other words, we will assert and implement a ‘Trump Corollary’ to the Monroe Doctrine.”

In other words, the United States will focus on its sphere of influence, the Americas. It will act there like a big brother, no longer like an empire (the “Roosevelt Corollary”). That is to say, it will protect them from external threats and expect, in return, that the rest of the continents will contribute to its economic needs.

If this is true, they will not attack Venezuela, but they could attack drug trafficking organizations in Latin America, including in Venezuela.

He continues:

• We want to put an end to the ongoing damage that foreign actors are inflicting on the U.S. economy, while maintaining the freedom and openness of the Indo-Pacific, preserving freedom of navigation in all crucial sea lanes, and maintaining secure and reliable supply chains and access to essential materials.
• We want to support our allies in preserving the freedom and security of Europe, while restoring its civilizational confidence and Western identity.
• We want to prevent an adversarial power from dominating the Middle East, its oil and gas resources, and the strategic chokepoints through which they flow, while avoiding the "endless wars" that have bogged us down in this region at an exorbitant cost.

He concludes that, ideally, the United States must once again become "the world’s leading economy, both the largest and the most innovative, generating wealth that we can invest in strategic interests and giving us bargaining power over countries that wish to access our markets."

Strategy

Only after this lengthy introduction does he address strategic issues. He warns that this strategy "is not based on a traditional political ideology. It is motivated above all by what serves the interests of the United States, or, in short, by the principle of ’America First.’"

Before becoming the rallying cry of American Nazi supporters, "America First" was the slogan of Democratic President Woodrow Wilson at the beginning of World War I and of the conservative (in the Anglo-Saxon sense of the term) Pat Buchanan when he fought against the followers of Leo Strauss.

He then defused the issue by rejecting the expansive definition of "national security" developed by previous administrations, as well as traditional classifications. Thus, he declared himself a priori "non-interventionist," while emphasizing that this position is often untenable and that action is therefore more appropriate. Ultimately, he advocated "flexible realism."

He wrote: "Our policy will be realistic about what is possible and desirable in our relations with other nations. We seek good relations and peaceful trade relations with the nations of the world, without imposing democratic or social changes that depart profoundly from their traditions and history. We recognize and affirm that there is nothing inconsistent or hypocritical about acting according to such a realistic assessment. Or about maintaining good relations with countries whose systems of government and societies differ from our own, while encouraging our like-minded friends to respect our common standards, which allows us to promote our interests."

This point marks a complete break with the thinking of previous administrations. It is a return to the traditional thinking of old Europe, which, like the United States, had abandoned. Donald Trump preaches flexibility and adaptability.

He then describes the international relations he promotes, his worldview, based on "the primacy of nations" and "respect for their sovereignty." He indicates that in this world, he does not aspire to a hegemonic position, but will ensure that no nation can either. He conceives of competition between nations as a market or a sporting event: may the best win!

He asserts that the “sovereignty of nations” implies the “restoration of borders” and the defense of “human rights” (in the American sense of the term, not in the French sense of “droits de l’homme et du citoyen”).

He also asserts that the “sovereignty of nations” cannot be delegated to alliances or intergovernmental organizations. Consequently, membership in NATO cannot exempt each member state from ensuring its own national defense. Similarly, membership in the World Trade Organization cannot exempt each state from defending the opening of new markets and the security of its supply chains.

This has nothing to do with the strategy of his predecessor, Joe Biden, for whom borders and nations were merely obstacles to the triumph of “democracy” [2]; a view that automatically led to the continuation of President George Bush’s endless war, the Rumsfeld-Cebrowski doctrine [3].

The World’s Regions

Donald Trump chose to define priority areas for action. In doing so, he expressed himself with respect for all his interlocutors and not, as he had done previously, with contempt for those he considered insignificant (those "shithole countries").

A - The Americas

Having clarified the "Trump corollary to the Monroe Doctrine," he established his strategy under the motto "recruit and expand." "Recruit" means relying on as many partners as possible. "Expand" means hoping that as many nations as possible will consider the United States their preferred partner and dissuading them (through various means) from collaborating with others.

In short, the goal is to ensure that the presence of foreign partners in the Americas, such as China, will not disrupt US supply chains. Therefore, "it is important to emphasize that American goods, services, and technologies represent a far more advantageous investment in the long term, as they are of higher quality and do not come with any of the same conditions as aid offered by other countries."

B - The Indo-Pacific

The Indo-Pacific region currently produces half of humanity’s wealth, but US-China trade relations are increasingly unbalanced. This is both because the rules between the two countries were established when China was an underdeveloped nation and because the US economy is in decline. [This isn’t what Trump says, but it’s what he implies.] He therefore intends to strengthen the Quad (Australia, the United States, Japan, and India) to ensure that China does not achieve a hegemonic position.

He also wants to mobilize the resources of his partners to launch a competing Belt and Road Initiative.

Focusing on the issue of Taiwan, he notes that the island holds a “dominant position in semiconductor production, but above all, it offers direct access to the second island chain and divides Northeast and Southeast Asia into two distinct theaters of operation.” This is why the United States will develop its economic dominance over the island while ensuring it respects Taiwan’s Chinese identity and never supports a conflict over it. Indeed, Donald Trump intervened with Sanae Taikachi, the Japanese Prime Minister, asking her to stop provoking Beijing.

The United States must also ensure that its supply chains in the South China Sea are never disrupted by anyone.

C - The European Union

EU production has declined, in thirty-five years (that is, not since the Maastricht Treaty, but since the completion of the single market), from 25% to 14% of global output. “But this economic decline is overshadowed by the very real and darker prospect of civilizational collapse.” Its restoration depends on controlling immigration (some member states could soon have a non-European majority) and abandoning “its sterile obsession with excessive regulation.”

Regarding the war in Ukraine, Donald Trump writes that “it is essential for the United States to negotiate a swift cessation of hostilities in order to stabilize European economies, prevent an escalation or unintentional spread of the conflict,
restore strategic stability with Russia, and allow for the reconstruction of Ukraine after hostilities in order to ensure its survival as a viable state.”

He laments that "many Europeans consider Russia an existential threat," suggesting a solution to the war in Ukraine that they will not tolerate.

D - The Middle East

This region no longer holds the same meaning since “energy sources have diversified considerably—with the United States once again becoming a net energy exporter—and competition between superpowers has given way to rivalry between great powers, in which the United States retains the most enviable position.” “This region will increasingly become a source and destination for international investment.”

While he deplores Iran’s rigidity, he is pleased to see the major governments fighting against “radicalism.” Even if he doesn’t name it, he is referring here to “jihadism,” which the Obama and Biden administrations, like the British Empire, have long fostered.

E - East Africa

The United States’ strategy in Africa “has for too long focused on providing and then disseminating liberal ideology. The United States should instead focus on building partnerships with certain countries to resolve conflicts, foster mutually beneficial trade relationships, and shift from a model of foreign aid to one of investment and growth capable of harnessing Africa’s abundant natural resources and latent economic potential.”

While the United States should assist in resolving ongoing conflicts (for example, between the DRC and Rwanda, and in Sudan) and preventing new conflicts (for example, between Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Somalia), it should primarily “shift from an aid-oriented relationship to a trade- and investment-oriented relationship with Africa, prioritizing partnerships with competent and reliable states willing to open their markets to U.S. goods and services.”

Conclusion

Contrary to the caricature presented by his opponents, both American and foreign, Donald Trump’s strategy appears extremely coherent and well-thought-out, despite being expressed simply with unnecessary references to the president’s victories.

It is entirely consistent with his 2017 project: to put an end to the "American Empire." He is the first US president in almost two centuries who believes his country has no enemies. In doing so, he opposes not only traditional imperialists, but also Straussians and neoconservatives, and even more so the warmongers of the European Union. While he develops his military according to the Roman principle Si vis pacem, para bellum (if you want peace, prepare for war), he positions himself never to provoke conflict and, on the contrary, commits to helping resolve disputes, again contradicting the strategy of his British ally, "divide and rule."

Thierry Meyssan

Translation
Roger Lagassé

     

titre documents joints

National Security Strategy - November 2025
(PDF - 500.5 KiB)

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[1] “Donald Trump’s National Security Strategy”, by Thierry Meyssan, Translation Pete Kimberley, Voltaire Network, 26 December 2017.

[2] “President Biden’s National Security Strategy”, by Thierry Meyssan, Translation Roger Lagassé, Voltaire Network, 9 April 2021.

[3] “The Rumsfeld/Cebrowski doctrine”, by Thierry Meyssan, Translation Roger Lagassé, Voltaire Network, 25 May 2021.