[Domestic Policy] New Security Strategy of the USA - One Way Influence

Siehe auch:
[Innenpolitik] Neue Sicherheitsstrategie der USA - Einfluss in nur eine Richtung

In November 2025, the US published its new national security strategy. This strategy deserves special attention. It does not break with previous foreign and domestic policy nor with previous economic and financial policy. However the situation has changed as competition between the US and China is intensifying on various levels. The new US national security strategy reflects this with significantly more open and direct language.

Compared to the numerous executive orders issued at the beginning of the second Trump (R) administration it was clearly better prepared than the first one. Furthermore the second Trump (R) administration is already acting more aggressively after just one year than the first term. Thus the second Trump (R) administration has definitively lost the innocence of its first term. And the US is making its claim to power and dominance unequivocally clear.

Aims

The strategy paper clearly outlines several goals that are to be achieved:

• External Influence & no Internal Influence
• Combating Drug Smuggling & Irregular Migration

As the world's largest and strongest military power and a member of NATO the USA wields unparalleled influence over other countries. To this end the USA maintains an extensive network of transatlantic lobbies (Council on Foreign Relations, Atlantik-Brücke, German Marshall Fund of the United States, Aspen Institute, American Council on Germany, etc.). The USA aims to maintain this influence and prevent any erosion of it.
As the world's largest and strongest military power and a member of NATO the USA wields unparalleled influence over other countries. The US continues to claim to exert unrivaled influence over other countries. To this end the USA maintains an extensive network of transatlantic lobbies (Council on Foreign Relations, Atlantik-Brücke, German Marshall Fund of the United States, Aspen Institute, American Council on Germany, etc.). [1, p.3-5]

We want to maintain the United States’ unrivaled "soft power" through which we exercise positive influence throughout the world that furthers our interests. [1, p.4]

It is noteworthy that the USA simultaneously claims to be free from outside influence and this is openly stated. In principle this is understandable in order to preserve its own self-determination. However while the USA wants to exert unparalleled influence over other countries the USA does not want to accept outside influence. [1, p.3-5]

We want to protect this country, its people, its territory, its economy, and its way of life from military attack and hostile foreign influence, whether espionage, predatory trade practices, drug and human trafficking, destructive propaganda and influence operations, cultural subversion, or any other threat to our nation. [1, p.3]

Drug trafficking and irregular migration are significant concerns for the US population. And the US has declared its intention to combat drug and human trafficking. Specifically the aim is to bring the country's borders back under full control. Liberal migration or even a policy of open borders and its consequences are rejected. [1, p.3 , p.5 , p.10-11 , p.16]

We want full control over our borders, over our immigration system, and over transportation networks through which people come into our country—legally and illegally. [1, p.3]
...
In countries throughout the world, mass migration has strained domestic resources, increased violence and other crime, weakened social cohesion, distorted labor markets, and undermined national security. [1, p.11]

Strategie

There have been repeated tensions although less frequent instances of disobedience between the Trump (R) administrations and the European partners of the USA. Trump (R) is simply not popular in Europe. However the European partners of the USA continue to commit to the US. The rest of NATO repeatedly allowed the US to dictate its defense spending in 2014 (2%) and in 2025 (5%). In 2021 LNG/natural gas from the US played a negligible role for Europe. But in 2025 approximately half of all LNG deliveries and about a quarter of all natural gas deliveries came from the US. [2] [3] [4] [5]

The "new right" parties in Europe have experienced increasing electoral success in recent years. The common element of these parties is their rejection of migration. This migration is largely due to the wars led by the USA (Afgahanistan 2001, Iraq 2003, Libya 2011, etc.). Therefore the USA, through its foreign policy bears partial responsibility for the rise of these "new right" parties in Europe. At the same time the USA has neither questioned nor significantly changed its foreign policy as a result of this migration.

Although the European partners follow the US, tensions exist. The US might therefore want different parties and politicians at the helm of its European partners. In this way, the Trump administration could reduce its own target in the public debate and prevent potential disobedience. The "new right" parties in Europe are currently positioning themselves as a viable partner in this endeavor.

America encourages its political allies in Europe to promote this revival of spirit, and the growing influence of patriotic European parties indeed gives cause for great optimism.
Our goal should be to help Europe correct its current trajectory. We will need a strong Europe to help us successfully compete, and to work in concert with us to prevent any adversary from dominating Europe. [1, p.26]

In 2025 Trump (R) accused Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela/PSUV) of being responsible for drug trafficking into the United States. And on the night of January 3th to 4th, 2026 US forces abducted Maduro (PSUV) from the Venezuelan capital Caracas. Immediately afterward Trump (R) announced his intention to govern Venezuela at least temporarily and laid claim to Venezuela's oil reserves.
That the US was not concerned with drug trafficking from the outset was foreseeable. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Venezuela is not a cocaine-producing country. The US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) states that Colombia and Peru are the main countries of origin for cocaine destined for the US while Venezuela isn't even mentioned. And in November 2025 Trump announced he would pardon former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez (National Party of Honduras/PNH), and in December 2025 Hernandez (PNH) was released. Hernandez (PNH) was convicted of drug and weapons trafficking in 2024 and sentenced to 45 years in prison in the US. [6] [7] [8]

In December Markus Frohnmaier (AfD) the foreign policy spokesman for the Bundestag parliamentary group received the Allen-Welsh-Dulles Prize from the New York Young Republican Club. This prize is named after Allen Dulles (1893-1969) the former director of the CIA (1953-1961).
Following the abduction of Maduro (PSUV) by US forces German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) declared that "the legal classification of the US intervention is complex" instead of condemning or at least acknowledging this violation of international law. And Frohnmaier (AfD) stated that "it is currently too early for a final assessment of the US actions". Furthermore Frohnmaier (AfD) declared that "the election results in Venezuela are not internationally recognized, opposition parties are banned and excluded from elections" and that "the country is considered the central instigator of cocaine smuggling into Europe". Thus the AfD repeated the obviously fabricated pretexts of the US. [9] [10] [11] [12]

If the new US representatives in Europe go along in this game they could become the new transatlantic lobbies. But if the new US representatives in Europe believe that this relationship benefits their countries they are confusing US interests with their own.

The US goal of reducing irregular migration is not new. And the goal is only different in that the situation in the US has changed since around 2020. Since the early 2000s official figures for irregular border crossings have been declining. And only since around 2020 have irregular border crossings increased dramatically. The resurgence of this debate partly corresponds to these figures. [13]

We want to ensure that the Western Hemisphere remains reasonably stable and well-governed enough to prevent and discourage mass migration to the United States
... [1, p.5]

[13]

[14]

At the same time deportations from the US have increased. Since 2022 however repatriations have not kept pace with irregular migration. It was therefore to be expected that the complex issue of irregular migration and repatriations in the US would continue to worsen. [13] [14]

[13] [14]

[Foreign Policy] New Security Strategy of the USA - Pivot to Asia
[Economics] New Security Strategy of the USA - Balanced Trade to Victory 2026-02-14

Src:
[1] National Security Strategy of the United States of America - November 2025
https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/2025-National-Security-Strategy.pdf
[2] Wales Summit Declaration 2014-09-05
https://www.nato.int/en/about-us/official-texts-and-resources/official-texts/2014/09/05/wales-summit-declaration
[3] Defence expenditures and NATO’s 5% commitment 2025-12-18
https://www.nato.int/en/what-we-do/introduction-to-nato/defence-expenditures-and-natos-5-commitment
[4] European natural gas imports 2026-01-22
https://www.bruegel.org/dataset/european-natural-gas-imports
[5] Das EU-US-Handelsabkommen erläutert – Energieaspekte 2025-07-31
https://germany.representation.ec.europa.eu/news/das-eu-us-handelsabkommen-erlautert-energieaspekte-2025-07-31_de
[6] Trump claims Venezuela’s Maduro is a drug-trafficking threat to the US. Does the data back him up? 2025-09-01
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/09/01/americas/trump-venezuela-maduro-drug-threat-analysis-intl-latam
[7] What was Honduras ex-president convicted of and why has Trump pardoned him? 2025-12-02
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9qewln7912o
[8] US plans to ‘run’ Venezuela and tap its oil reserves, Trump says, after operation to oust Maduro 2026-01-04
https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-us-explosions-caracas-ca712a67aaefc30b1831f5bf0b50665e
[9] 20 Abgeordnete im Trump-Land - Business Class, Luxus-Gala, bizarrer Preis: Für die USA-Reise der AfD zahlen auch Sie 2025-12-11
https://www.focus.de/politik/deutschland/mit-einem-trick-lassen-afdler-steuerzahler-fuer-fragwuerdige-usa-reise-blechen_8ea0735a-96d0-4a42-9e1a-167ceb99a877.html
[10] Verbindungen zu MAGA - Die AfD sucht Anschluss in den USA 2025-12-13
https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/innenpolitik/afd-usa-reise-100.html
[11] Bundeskanzler Friedrich Merz erklärt zur Situation in Venezuela 2026-01-03
https://www.bundesregierung.de/breg-de/aktuelles/bundeskanzler-friedrich-merz-erklaert-zur-situation-in-venezuela-2401528
[12] Reaktionen nach Festnahme von Maduro durch die USA 2026-01-04
https://jungefreiheit.de/politik/ausland/2026/erste-reaktionen-nach-festnahme-von-maduro-durch-die-usa/
[13] What can the data tell us about unauthorized immigration? 2024-08-01
https://usafacts.org/articles/what-can-the-data-tell-us-about-unauthorized-immigration/
[14] Immigration Enforcement and Legal Processes Monthly Tables
https://ohss.dhs.gov/topics/immigration/immigration-enforcement/monthly-tables