The first two months of the Trump administration have felt like a year. Whether it’s the on-again, off-again tariffs, the head-dizzying threats to annex Greenland and force Canada to become America’s 51st state, or the so-called Signalgate scandal, we’re clearly living in frenetic times.
And yet, despite everything that has gone on in the administration’s early days, Trump’s national security team remains noticeably quiet on foreign policy. We aren’t hearing much about doctrine. Perhaps that’s because Trump is impervious to staying in a single lane for more than a few days? All we’ve had is the Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance, signed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Unfortunately for us laymen, this document is still hidden in a government vault somewhere. The Washington Post, though, shared a few excerpts last week. The theme is pretty consistent throughout: The Pentagon will deprioritize Europe and the Middle East to free up more energy and resources on the Western Hemisphere and China. “China is the Department’s sole pacing threat, and denial of a Chinese fait accompli seizure of Taiwan — while simultaneously defending the U.S. homeland is the Department’s sole pacing scenario,” Hegseth wrote. Counterterrorism will be downgraded as a priority as well. Per Hegseth’s orders, the United States will now concentrate predominately on terrorist groups who have both the intent and capacity to attack America.
Nothing mentioned here so far is particularly controversial.
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