Linking Trump’s National Security Strategy to Reagan Is a Roll of the Dice

Linking Trump’s National Security Strategy to Reagan Is a Roll of the Dice
President Ronald Reagan works at his desk in the Oval Office of the White House as he prepares a speech, May 24, 1985 (AP photo by Scott Stewart).

U.S. President Donald Trump has reportedly approved the core elements of what will be his first official National Security Strategy, known within the government as the NSS. If true, it will be an impressive accomplishment. The difficult coordination needed to get agreement on the NSS within an administration, given the painful fine-tuning of every word, means that few presidents have produced one during their first year in office.

In a speech last week at the annual Ronald Reagan Defense Forum in California, Trump’s national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, hinted at the major themes of the forthcoming strategy. Comparing today to when President Reagan took office in 1981, McMaster said that American foreign policy needs a “dramatic rethinking” to refocus on protecting the homeland, advancing American prosperity, preserving peace through strength and enhancing U.S. influence.

Further evoking Reagan, McMaster stressed that the new strategy would reclaim “strategic confidence”—a clear reference to Trump’s insistence that his predecessor, President Barack Obama, was too timid when confronting security challenges. The message was that the major problems with American security policy are a lack of will and a failure to prioritize U.S. national interests.

Keep reading for free!

Get instant access to the rest of this article as well as three free articles per month. You'll also receive our free email newsletter to stay up to date on all our coverage:

Or, Subscribe now to get full access.

Already a subscriber? Log in here .

What you’ll get with an All-Access subscription to World Politics Review:

A WPR subscription is like no other resource — it’s like having your own personal researcher and analyst for news and events around the globe. Subscribe now, and you’ll get:

  • Immediate and instant access to the full searchable library of 15,000+ articles
  • Daily articles with original analysis, written by leading topic experts, delivered to you every weekday
  • Weekly in-depth reports on important issues and countries
  • Daily links to must-read news, analysis, and opinion from top sources around the globe, curated by our keen-eyed team of editors
  • Your choice of weekly region-specific newsletters, delivered to your inbox.
  • Smartphone- and tablet-friendly website.
  • Completely ad-free reading.

And all of this is available to you when you subscribe today.

More World Politics Review