Trump national security strategy doubles down on Iran
The US president’s first national security strategy outlines the White House’s growing campaign to turn the screws on Iran.
US President Donald Trump’s inaugural national security strategy frames Iran as a “rogue state” and primary competitor to US interests in the Middle East.
Released on Monday, the 55-page document draws from Trump’s foreign policy speeches throughout his first year in office. It notably accuses China and Russia of seeking to shape a world “antithetical to US values and interests” by displacing the United States from Asia and weakening Western institutions such as NATO and the European Union.
The periodic document, which can sometimes serve as a predictor for White House foreign policy, also calls for the United States to foster development to make sure the Middle East is “not a safe haven or breeding ground for jihadist terrorists, not dominated by any power hostile to the United States, and that contributes to a stable global energy market.”
Speaking at the Ronald Reagan International Trade Building just blocks from the White House on Monday, President Trump outlined the strategy as a break with Obama-era foreign policy that emphasized democracy promotion in the Middle East.
