Yesterday, I primarily blogged (https://janetswritingblog.com/2025/12/10/trumps-national-security-strategy-the-western-hemisphere/) about the Western Hemisphere portion of the Trump Administration’s National Security Strategy which was released last Friday, although it bears a November 2025 date. It was quietly released and posted on the White House website: https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/2025-National-Security-Strategy.pdf. I encourage you to read the document and draw your own conclusions. Yours might not align with mine.
In addition to the Western Hemisphere, the document addresses Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa – in that order.
Asia
As only a document coming out of the Trump White House can say, the Asia portion of the strategy begins with the words, “President Trump single-handedly reversed more than three decades of mistaken American assumptions about China: namely, that by opening our markets to China, encouraging American business to invest in China, and outsourcing our manufacturing to China, we would facilitate China’s entry into the so-called ‘rules based international order.’ This did not happen. China got rich and powerful, and used its wealth and power to its considerable advantage. American elites—over four successive administrations of both political parties—were either willing enablers of China’s strategy or in denial.”
That’s rich, coming from Trump who had so much of his Trump brand merchandise manufactured in China! And his daughter had her line of jewelry made in China! The Trump family took full advantage of the “mistakes” of precious U.S. Presidents and got richer and richer at the expense of the American factory worker.
The document goes on to state, “… the Indo-Pacific is already and will continue to be among the next century’s key economic and geopolitical battlegrounds. To thrive at home, we must successfully compete there—and we are. President Trump signed major agreements during his October 2025 travels that further deepen our powerful ties of commerce, culture, technology, and defense, and reaffirm our commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific. America retains tremendous assets—the world’s strongest economy and military, world-beating innovation, unrivaled “soft power,” and a historic record of benefiting our allies and partners—that enable us to compete successfully. President Trump is building alliances and strengthening partnerships in the Indo Pacific that will be the bedrock of security and prosperity long into the future.”
Several hundred words later, the Asia section of the document ends with, “We will also harden and strengthen our military presence in the Western Pacific, while in our dealings with Taiwan and Australia we maintain our determined rhetoric on increased defense spending. Preventing conflict requires a vigilant posture in the Indo-Pacific, a renewed defense industrial base, greater military investment from ourselves and from allies and partners, and winning the economic and technological competition over the long term.”
It appears that Australia was thrown into that last paragraph as an afterthought.
Europe
The European section of the National Security Strategy begins by throwing Europe under the bus, as Trump likes to do. He is critical of every country, including his own. Nothing is good enough. After laying out some supposed statistics (I say supposed because, sadly, I don’t believe anything the Trump Administration says), the document says if the current trend in Europe continues, “the continent will be unrecognizable in 20 years or less. As such, it is far from obvious whether certain European countries will have economies and militaries strong enough to remain reliable allies.”
The paper goes on to address the threat Russia poses with its nuclear weapons and the need to “reestablish conditions of strategic stability across the Eurasian landmass, and to mitigate the risk of conflict between Russia and European states.
I find the following statement in the NSS interesting, considering the Trump Administration’s propensity to make it more difficult for U.S. citizens to vote and its blatant efforts to prompt states to gerrymander Congressional district lines to assure him of retaining the Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.
That statement: “A large European majority wants peace, yet that desire is not translated into policy, in large measure because of those governments’ subversion of democratic processes. This is strategically important to the United States precisely because European states cannot reform themselves if they are trapped in political crisis…. Not only can we not afford to write Europe off—doing so would be self-defeating for what this strategy aims to achieve. American diplomacy should continue to stand up for genuine democracy, freedom of expression, and unapologetic celebrations of European nations’ individual character and history…. Our goal should be to help Europe correct its current trajectory. We will need a strong Europe to help us successfully compete, and to work in concert with us to prevent any adversary from dominating Europe…. We want to work with aligned countries that want to restore their former greatness.”
The document then addresses NATO and its future as “certain NATO members will become majority non-European.”
The Middle East
This section of the NSS begins by addressing energy and how the Middle East is not as important in that arena as it was for decades. It touts the fact that the U.S. is now an energy exporter. It also boasts that Trump has “revitalized” U.S. alliances in “the Gulf.” It says the threats to peace in the Middle East are not as strong as the news headlines indicate. It brags about the U.S. June 2025 Operation Midnight Hammer attack on Iran’s nuclear program.
Africa
The NSS document starts this section by criticizing past American policy in Africa as spreading liberal ideology. Instead, the Trump Administration seeks to partner with “select countries” to create trade to replace the foreign aid of the past.
This section of the document ends with, “The United States should transition from an aid-focused relationship with Africa to a trade- and investment-focused relationship, favoring partnerships with capable, reliable states committed to opening their markets to U.S. goods and services. An immediate area for U.S. investment in Africa, with prospects for a good return on investment, include the energy sector and critical mineral development. Development of U.S.-backed nuclear energy, liquid petroleum gas, and liquified natural gas technologies can generate profits for U.S. businesses and help us in the competition for critical minerals and other resources.
In other words, what’s in it for Trump? He can only see the world through the lens of business. That lens only sees how he can personally benefit financially.
I hate to have such a distrust for and poor perspective of a U.S. President. I don’t enjoy writing any of this.
Janet
Janet's Writing Blog 
I could barely get through this without vomiting.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s horrible, Liz, and it is receiving no attention by the media. I heard a few minutes about it on NPR while in the car the other day, but if mainstream TV news networks have talked about it I missed it. My heart breaks for my fellow political science majors in college who went on to have 30-year careers with the State Department in various countries. I’ve lost touch with all but one of them, but they must feel like their hard work, sacrifices, and integrity have all been for nought.
LikeLiked by 1 person
By non-European, one assumes he means non-white. The UK is around 17% non-white, I think, now, so still considerably more white than the US. So does that mean the US is non-American? Like most non-white Americans see themselves as American, most non-white Europeans see themselves as European. The non-white Glaswegians who speak with Glaswegian accents and watch Glasgow Rangers are probably quite surprised to discover they’re not European! It always astonishes me that there are still people who deny he’s a racist and white supremacist. None so blind, eh?
LikeLike
Great point! You make absolutely excellent points! I think only his fellow-white-supremacist-racists think he is not a racist. It is unbelievable! Our nation is nothing but immigrants and their descendants. In his “speech” Tuesday night in Pennsylvania he was begging Norwegians and Danes to came to America… as if any self-respecting Norwegian or Dane wants to come here now! Give me a break! Why would they want to leave clean air and health care to come here? He may as well just admit what he is and don a Ku Klux Klan costume! Was it not clear enough to people when he let white South Africans pour into the country while no one else was allowed in? And now he tells the President of Colombia that “he’s next” after Trump overthrows Maduro in Venezuela… all while saying the US cannot police the whole world? Trump just wants Venezuela’s oil and Maduro is standing in his way. Perhaps he can just steal it one tanker at a time. HE wants Ukraine rare earth elements. He wants all the world’s oil. And God knows he wants all the world’s gold so he can tacky-up all of Washington, DC. I’m so glad I visited D.C. several times before dear leader took over! I hope some Americans will actually read my blog posts about Trump’s National Security Strategy because it is not getting one moment’s attention over here on the TV news. Not. One. Minute. Can you hear me screaming across the pond? And yes, every person of color here considers himself or herself an American. They are more American in their hearts than dear leader. His worldview is the worst of anyone this side of Hitler. He put on social media this week that to be anti-Trump is un-American. Can anyone spell d-i-c-t-a-t-o-r? I’ve given up on the elected Republicans in Washington, D.C. doing what’s necessary to rid our country of this demon. They stepped up to the plate with Richard Nixon, but there’s apparently not a single one of them now with the guts to tell Trump it’s time to go. So here we are.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Independent news outlets are covering it. I don’t watch network news anymore, just local news and the weather report. Mainstream news media are owned by big money, and they’re not engaged in journalism anymore.
LikeLike
I’m afraid you are exactly right. I continue to watch different networks, but I am disappointed daily in the things that are reported and the things that are not reported.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I have never been so embarrassed by a so called president! Thank you for all your time posting this.
LikeLike
Thank you, Diane. I can’t seem to help myself. I feel compelled to speak out. I guess God knew that when he led me to major in political science. Illness cut my career in government very short, but perhaps this was His plan for me all along. I am beyond disgusted and angry about our so-called president. I don’t know how we can stand 37 more months of this!
LikeLike
How did you get into these topics you write about now
LikeLike
I majored in political science and minored in history in college and have a graduate degree in public administration. Although health issues removed me from my desired career in government at a fairly early age, I never lost my love for democracy and honesty and integrity in government. Democracy is now under attack from within as never before and the Trump Administration is devoid of honesty and integrity. It is mentally and physically exhausting to try to keep up. I do a better job of it some weeks than others. I never expected my blog to turn into a political platform. I believe God knew that’s what lay ahead for me when I was in college 50 years ago, but I had no clue how my degrees and my interests then would become so timely and important decades later in my seventies. Life has a funny way of taking us down roads we don’t anticipate.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You were destined. You’ve had quite a like. I was hoping you would read my current blog
LikeLike
As you alluded to, the strategy reflects where the focus of this administration is going to be. It would be a big mistake if they try to disengage from the Middle East and Africa. I would argue that this administration should put more focus on Africa in particular, since a lot is going on there that is an extension of what is happening in the Middle East. I think this strategy is setting the worst conditions ever for the next administration.
LikeLike
I just stopped and read your current blog post. I also subscribed to it. I thought I had subscribed long ago, but I was wondering why I never knew when you posted a new one. Thank you for letting me know about this recent post. Looks like I have more catching up to do. Your writing career has been extraordinary! I didn’t know I wanted to be a writer until middle age. When the career I had prepared myself for in government was ended by illness, I was at a loss for years.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I agree, Edward. In addition to the next administration trying (hopefully!) to put things right again, they will not be trusted because nations now know they cannot count on the U.S. and they cannot take the U.S. at it’s President’s word. It seems that the Middle East extremists have wasted no time going into Africa to fill the influence void left by the Trump Administration. Trump still tends to refer to Africa as a country instead of a continent. I guess none of the expensive schools he attended put much emphasis on geography… or history… or human empathy.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Absolutely! ISIS is growing in numbers in Africa, and this administration is not paying attention. Instead, they are going after the easy target of Venezuela. I don’t think he learned the right lessons in college. You’re right, it’s going to take a while for our allies to fully trust us again.
LikeLike
Janet, I’m glad that you eventually found a career in which you shine.
LikeLike
Since I’m almost 73 years old, I don’t expect to live to see the US regain its trust. How privileged I was to be born, grow up, and get to this age while we knew countries like Great Britain, France, Canada, and Australia had our backs if we needed them.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I guess I qualify as a “late bloomer.” Better late than never! Thank you.
LikeLike
I remain hopeful that change will come after this administration ends.
LikeLike
I’m trying to be hopeful.
LikeLiked by 1 person