China is no longer the US Pentagon’s top priority, shifting its focus to the homeland and Western Hemisphere, an influential new strategy document says.
Where it had been viewed under former president Joe Biden as a top adversary, Beijing is now seen as a settled force in the Indo-Pacific region that only needs to be deterred from dominating the US or its allies, according to the 2026 National Defence Strategy.
The document is based on President Donald Trump‘s National Security Strategy, published last year, which said the US will reassert its dominance in the Western Hemisphere, build military strength in the Indo-Pacific, and possibly reassess its relationship with Europe.
The new paper calls for the US military to provide “critical but more limited support” for allies in Europe and elsewhere.
It says there is a need for “a sharp shift – in approach, focus, and tone” in order to “shift away from the legacy course headed for disaster and toward making America great again”.
The strategy’s release is likely to unnerve US allies even further, coming after disagreements over a desired US takeover of Greenland and claims by Mr Trump that NATO troops did not fight on the frontline in Afghanistan.
The new document says the country is not pursuing an isolationist agenda, but lays out why the US wants allies to do more while the military focuses more on the homeland.
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The main focus on the homeland includes a section about the US no longer ceding key terrain in the Western Hemisphere and how the Pentagon will provide Mr Trump with “credible options to guarantee US military and commercial access to key terrain from the Arctic to South America, especially Greenland, the Gulf of America, and the Panama Canal.”
Korean peninsula
The paper warns that South Korea must stay vigilant against the threat of a North Korean invasion, underlining that the country is within striking distance of the North’s missile forces.
South Korea is singled out in the document as having begun to “step up” in defence spending.
The country hosts around 28,500 US personnel, and Seoul has increased its defence budget by 7.5% for this year.
Seoul is described as “capable of taking primary responsibility for deterring North Korea” thanks to its powerful military and high defence spending.
Ukraine
While Mr Biden said defending Ukraine from Russian aggression was a top priority, the new strategy paper says NATO allies must assume “the lead in supporting Ukraine’s defence”.
Peace in Ukraine is labelled as “Europe’s responsibility first and foremost”.
The Pentagon foresees America providing “critical but more limited US support”.
Russia
Russia is described as a persistent but manageable threat to NATO’s eastern members.
The document goes on to say that Moscow “is in no position” to make a bid for European dominance.
European NATO allies are described as being substantially more powerful than Russia, with the text going on to say that “it is not even close”.
The strategy cites how Germany’s economy alone dwarfs that of Russia.
Perhaps then comes the part that will most worry Europe.
“Although Europe remains important,” the document says. “It has a smaller and decreasing share of global economic power. It follows that, although we are and will remain engaged in Europe, we must – and will – prioritise defending the US Homeland and deterring China.”
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China
China is labelled as “the most powerful state relative to us [the US] since the 19th century”.
The US, the document says, will seek to maintain a favourable balance of military power in the Indo-Pacific region.
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This will not be done for the purpose of “dominating, humiliating, or strangling China,” but to ensure that no country can dominate the US or its allies.
Mr Trump’s White House believes “a decent peace, on terms favourable to Americans but that China can also accept and live under” is possible.
