OP-ED: Making sense of Trump’s National Security Strategy
In December, the Trump administration released its foreign policy blueprint, the National Security Strategy (NSS). It calls for a “Trump Corollary” to the Monroe Doctrine, with the U.S. dominating our sphere of influence (the Americas) while conceding other spheres to China and the Russians. The NSS ignores North Korea and Jihadist movements and is very concerned that non-European migration will lead to “civilization erasure” in Europe.
Critics claim President Donald Trump is a Russian stooge, which may be harsh, but for whatever reason, in contrast to most Americans, Trump has taken a very pro-Russian stance on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Trump flew to Alaska on short notice to literally roll out the red carpet for Vladimir Putin last summer but did not meet Volodymyr Zelensky at the airport when Zelensky visited Trump in Florida on Dec 28. He also took a private phone call from Putin before meeting Zelensky, who he always meets in public. Trump pressures Zelensky to accede to Russia’s demands but never tries to temper those demands. Trump claims that Putin “wants Ukraine to succeed” but Putin refuses to even meet with Zelensky, and the Russians launched a massive strike against Ukrainian infrastructure and civilian targets just prior to Zelensky and Trump meeting to discuss a potential peace plan.
Trump’s attack on Iran has greatly benefited Russia. When Trump was asked about reports of Russia helping Iran (which has become Russia’s ally) target U.S. troops, Trump downplayed it and then seemed to excuse it. When Iran shut down the Strait of Hormuz, potentially removing 20% of the world’s oil supply, Trump lifted restrictions on the sale of Russian oil. The restrictions were there to pressure Russia to end its war in Ukraine; Trump’s actions have driven up the price of oil, increasing Russia’s revenues (which fund its war effort) and undermining the pressure created by Western economic sanctions on Russia. In contrast, Ukraine, whose aid Trump “paused” last year, is sharing with us its most advanced drone technology, which it developed while defending itself against the Russian invasion.
China is the other issue that the NSS downplays. China is a complicated issue; it is the second most populous country in the world and has the world’s largest economy (using the purchasing power parity metric; the U.S. still has the largest economy using nominal GDP). Is China an enemy? A friendly competitor? The NSS rightfully points out that the bipartisan belief that capitalism and free trade would create a friendly democratic government did not pan out. Trump has often blamed China for stealing American jobs by “cheating” on trade. Cheap Chinese exports are popular with consumers, and tariffs on China will likely lead to goods coming from other low-wage exporters (such as Vietnam and Mexico) rather than manufacturing jobs returning to the U.S. (the U.S. actually lost 108,000 manufacturing jobs during 2025, during most of which tariffs were in place). Tariffs certainly increase prices, contributing to inflation. Trump’s erratic tariffs on China may please his MAGA base, they do not lead to long-term benefits for most Americans.
The Biden administration hoped to slow China’s technological advance to preserve U.S. dominance by prohibiting the sale of the most advanced U.S. computer chips (that would help China develop AI and more advanced weapons).Trump ran for office channeling U.S. anger toward China, and immediately started a trade war, slapping 100% tariffs on Chinese goods. China quickly won that war by shifting its purchase of soybeans to South America (bankrupting many U.S. soybean farmers) and threatening to withhold rare earth metals the U.S. needed, so Trump backed down.
China also worked around Biden’s limitations by developing a more basic form of AI (Deep Seek) that didn’t need the most sophisticated chips and used much less power to operate (though Deep Seek is not powerful enough to help China catch the U.S. technologically). After lobbying from Nvidia’s founder, CEO Jensen Huang (who donated to Trump’s ballroom), Trump overturned the Biden policy and allowed China to buy Nividia’s second best chips (H200 chips). Nvidia also promised Trump that the U.S. will get 25% of the profits (though that may be illegal, because the Constitution prohibits export taxes). Restrictions on technology to China is a difficult issue because prohibiting the export of the most advanced chips will impede Chinese progress in the short-term, but may inspire a more focused effort to develop these chips in China than if we allowed them to purchase American chips. As a transactional president, Trump may figure that we cannot prevent China from getting advanced chips, so at least the U.S. should get paid to let it happen. The government having a stake in a private industry would be an anathema to most Republicans, but Trump is not like most Republicans.
The Trump administration also changed U.S. policy to allow Saudi Arabia and the UAE to purchase advanced Nvidia chips (Blackwells, or GB300s). This change came after Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to the U.S., when he promised to invest a trillion dollars, and after the UAE invested $500 million in Trump’s World Liberty Financial. The Biden administration had restricted sales of the most advanced chips because it was concerned that China could get the chips from the Gulf States as their relationships improved.
Every modern administration has released National Security Strategies that attempt to explain the logic behind American foreign policy. The Trump NSS does provide a window into the thinking of the people who staff the Trump administration, so it’s helpful to understand how people will try to influence the president. As the recent attack on Iran vividly demonstrated, Trump will not be bound by the NSS, and will continue to conduct foreign policy as he always has, seeing foreign policy as a contest for dominance and ignoring anything that limits his actions, regardless of the consequences.
Kent James, of East Washington, has a doctorate in history and policy from Carnegie Mellon University.