The U.S. Defense Department said in a major strategy document released Friday that the military’s top priority is no longer countering China, but instead strengthening security at home and across the Western Hemisphere.
The 2026 National Defense Strategy, a congressionally mandated report issued every four years, marks a significant departure from the 2022 strategy under the Biden administration. The new plan places greater emphasis on domestic security missions, including border protection and counter-narcotics operations, while calling on U.S. allies to take on more responsibility abroad.
The document stresses that the United States is not pursuing isolationism but is refocusing military resources on the homeland. It states that the Pentagon will provide President Donald Trump with “credible options to guarantee U.S. military and commercial access to key terrain from the Arctic to South America,” specifically citing Greenland, the Gulf of America, and the Panama Canal.
“We will ensure that the Monroe Doctrine is upheld in our time,” the strategy declares, referencing the 19th-century policy asserting U.S. influence throughout the Western Hemisphere.
China, previously designated the United States’ top strategic competitor, is now listed as the Pentagon’s second priority. The report describes Beijing as a challenge that should be deterred “through strength, not confrontation,” and emphasizes that the U.S. does not seek to “strangle or humiliate” China. Instead, it says American military power will support President Trump’s diplomatic efforts to establish a stable balance of power in the Indo-Pacific region.
The strategy identifies increased burden-sharing by allies as the Pentagon’s third priority, calling for greater defense contributions from European partners as well as Canada and Mexico. Rebuilding the U.S. defense industrial base is listed as the fourth priority.
The new strategic framework reflects the administration’s broader shift toward domestic security and regional influence while redefining the U.S. role in global defense commitments.
