Regarding Russia, the strategy defines it as a persistent threat, although manageable for the countries on the eastern flank of the Atlantic Alliance. The text acknowledges that Moscow still possesses significant military and industrial reserves and demonstrates its willingness to wage a prolonged war near its borders, but at the same time it emphasizes that NATO allies are significantly stronger. According to the document, the difference is enormous, to the point of stressing that Germany's economy alone surpasses Russia's.
Based on this analysis, the new strategy concludes that European allies will have to assume full responsibility for the defense of the continent, while the U.S. role will be limited to strategic support. Nevertheless, the text clarifies that the United States will continue to play a key role in NATO, although it will adjust the deployment and operations of its forces in accordance with the evolution of the Russian threat.
The approach also redefines Europe's role in the conflict in Ukraine. In accordance with the document, NATO allies will assume the primary role in Ukraine's defense, making it Europe's responsibility, thus marking a shift away from U.S. leadership on that front.
Donald Trump, presidente electo de Estados Unidos.
In parallel, the strategy grants a central place to certain geographic areas considered vital to the United States' national interests. Among them, it mentions Greenland, the Panama Canal and the Arctic. The text lists these territories as strategic points that must be protected to guarantee national security.
In that regard, the Pentagon states that it will provide the president with “credible options to ensure the United States' military and commercial access to key terrain from the Arctic to South America, especially Greenland”. In addition, the document adds: “we will ensure that the Monroe Doctrine is maintained in our time”.
The National Defense Strategy is based on the National Security Strategy released in December by the Trump administration, in which the Western Hemisphere, and not Europe, had already been redefined as the priority theater for the defense of the United States' interests.
Finally, the document also addresses other global flashpoints. In that context, it warns that if the Iranian regime continues to increase its capabilities, it could once again attempt to obtain nuclear weapons and threaten the United States, Israel and regional stability, thereby consolidating a strategic approach that prioritizes the defense of national territory and the deterrence of threats against Washington.
The United States presented its new National Defense Strategy for 2026, which redefines its priorities in security matters and military policy, with a significant shift in Washington's geopolitical focus under the government of Donald Trump.
The document, published on Friday night, establishes a new order of priorities that reduces Europe's weight within the U.S. strategic framework and reinforces the focus on the defense of its own territory, the American continent and areas that are key to its national interests.
According to the official text, Europe continues to be an important partner, although its relative weight has decreased over time. In that regard, the strategy states: “Although Europe remains important, its share of global economic power is smaller and is decreasing”.
Based on that assessment, the document concludes that “although the United States will remain engaged in Europe, it must prioritize, and will prioritize, the defense of U.S. territory and the deterrence of China”.
Donald Trump, presidente de Estados Unidos.
The new roadmap establishes that European allies will have to assume a more active role in their own security. At the regional level, the strategy indicates that in Europe “allies will take the lead” in the face of threats that are considered “less severe” for the United States, although more direct for the continent. In that context, Washington will provide “critical but more limited support”.
The document also keeps that Europe has sufficient capacity to defend itself. According to the Pentagon's assessment, European countries possess economic and military tools that allow them to assume the primary responsibility for conventional defense.
In particular, it highlights that NATO members that are not the United States far surpass Russia in economic scale and that, for that reason, they are “strongly positioned to assume the primary responsibility for Europe's conventional defense”.
