Trump’s New National Security Strategy appears to be written in Trump Truth Social style with equal parts pompous bluster, internal contradictions and ignorant incoherence, setting forth policies pretty much guaranteed to confuse the rest of the world and allow Trump and his minions to fatten their wallets and pursue whatever long held fantasies of world domination they choose. This is to be done all while the United States declares itself “America First” which, as always, really means America Above All (or Uber Alles in the original German). It is a terrifying document and we are seeing the fruits of the philosophy (to the extent there is one) that guides it.
It begins with the standard bootlicking we’ve come out expect from any utterance out of this administration testifying to Trump’s unrivaled genius and magical peace-making skills such as his ability to “surgically extinguish embers of division between nuclear-capable nations and violent wars caused by centuries-long hatred.” (Did I mention the purple prose?) Beyond the tribute and accolades for Dear Leader, which takes up big chunks of the document, it divides up the world into sections that were clearly drafted, or at least influenced, by Trump’s top deputy Stephen Miller, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Vice president JD Vance and Trump himself.
Miller is the top xenophobe of the administration and the disdain for all foreigners is obvious throughout the document, particularly in the sections about mass migration, a human condition since time began and most recently due to climate change and political upheaval. Let’s just say the U.S. under Trump is against it and believes that it must be stopped by any means necessary. There is very little in the document suggesting that there might be any possible way to mitigate these migrations with “soft-power” (such as USAID or Voice of America) which the administration is working overtime to destroy as quickly as possible. They think all problems can be overcome with “deals” and violence.
Rubio is in charge of the new “Monroe Doctrine” which is a colonial wish list he apparently wants to fulfill. JD Vance’s antipathy to Europe is on full display while Trump’s burning desire to suck up to Russia and “do deals” with China reveals America’s new quasi-alliance with both countries.
As Salon’s Andrew O’Hehir puts it in this excellent analysis:
We can’t exactly call it surprising that this overwrought Trumpian manifesto vows to go all-in on “cultivating resistance to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations” by encouraging the rise of “patriotic European parties” eager to celebrate their nations’ “individual character and history.” Or that the attitude expressed toward Russia, China and the oil-based monarchies of the Middle East amounts to a shrug emoji: Really far away! Not our problem! Live and let live! Ukraine-Shmukraine!
Or rather, it’s only surprising in the sense that whenever we think the Trump administration can’t outdo itself in overt bigotry, outright lies or vainglorious self-destruction, we turn out to be wrong. One could observe that Trump’s apparent plan to give Vladimir Putin almost everything he wants, Neville Chamberlain-style, in order to end the Ukraine war isn’t working too well, and that JD Vance and Elon Musk’s efforts to meddle in European elections on behalf of the xenophobic far right have at least partly backfired. None of that means, mind you, that this alternately idiotic and delusional document — described in that Economist editorial, using an enjoyable Anglo-idiom, as “a dog’s breakfast” — is not dangerous.
It’s terrifying. Our only hope is that their manifest incompetence keeps things from hurtling totally out of control.