Trump National Security Strategy: A Retreat from U.S. Power and Global Leadership

It’s reasonable to expect that a presidential memorandum outlining an administration’s national security strategy would reflect, if not a coherent approach to the preservation of U.S. interests abroad, at least the president’s thinking on foreign affairs. The Trump administration’s stab at a National Security Strategy fails on both counts.

Rather, what the document seems to reflect are the highest aspirations of the so-called “restrainers” inside the administration who have so far failed to compel it to reorient the United States away from the world abroad and, apparently, require a consolation prize. The document they produced is more ideological and, therefore, less prescriptive than anything the much-maligned “neocons” ever crafted for public consumption.

About the Author

Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.

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It’s reasonable to expect that a presidential memorandum outlining an administration’s national security strategy would reflect, if not a coherent approach to the preservation of U.S. interests abroad, at least the president’s thinking on foreign affairs. The Trump administration’s stab at a National Security Strategy fails on both counts.

Rather, what the document seems to reflect are the highest aspirations of the so-called “restrainers” inside the administration who have so far failed to compel it to reorient the United States away from the world abroad and, apparently, require a consolation prize. The document they produced is more ideological and, therefore, less prescriptive than anything the much-maligned “neocons” ever crafted for public consumption.

About the Author

Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.