{"id":302828,"date":"2025-09-15T12:01:33","date_gmt":"2025-09-15T11:01:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=302828"},"modified":"2025-09-14T06:10:05","modified_gmt":"2025-09-14T05:10:05","slug":"us-war-department-pentagon-plan-prioritizes-homeland-latin-america-over-china-threat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2025\/09\/us-war-department-pentagon-plan-prioritizes-homeland-latin-america-over-china-threat\/","title":{"rendered":"US War Department (Pentagon) Plan Prioritizes Homeland (Latin America) over China Threat"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Chinese female troops march during a military parade marking the 80th anniversary of victory over Japan and the end of World War II, in Beijing’s Tienanmen Square on 3 Sep 2025.
Pedro Pardo\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p><\/div>\n

This marks a major departure from the first Trump administration, which emphasized deterring Beijing.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

5 Sep 2025\u00a0<\/em>– Pentagon officials are proposing the department prioritize protecting the homeland and Western Hemisphere, a striking reversal from the military\u2019s yearslong mandate to focus on the threat from China.<\/p>\n

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A draft of the newest National Defense Strategy, which landed on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth\u2019s desk last week, places domestic and regional missions above countering adversaries such as Beijing and Moscow, according to three people briefed on early versions of the report.<\/p>\n

The move would mark a major shift from recent Democrat and Republican administrations, including President Donald Trump\u2019s first term in office, when he referred to Beijing as America\u2019s greatest rival. And it would likely inflame China hawks in both parties who view the country\u2019s leadership as a danger to U.S. security.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThis is going to be a major shift for the U.S. and its allies on multiple continents,\u201d said one of the people briefed on the draft document. \u201cThe old, trusted U.S. promises are being questioned.\u201d<\/p>\n

The report usually comes out at the start of each administration, and Hegseth could still make changes to the plan. But in many ways, the shift is already occurring. The Department of War has activated thousands of National Guard troops to support law enforcement in Los Angeles and Washington, and dispatched multiple warships<\/a> and F-35 fighter planes to the Caribbean to interdict the flow of drugs to the U.S.<\/p>\n

A U.S. military strike this week allegedly killed<\/a> 11 suspected members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang in international waters, a major step in using the military to kill noncombatants.<\/p>\n

The Department of War also has established a militarized zone across the southern border with Mexico that allows troops to detain civilians, a job normally reserved for law enforcement.<\/p>\n

The new strategy would largely overturn the focus of the first Trump administration\u2019s 2018 National Defense Strategy<\/a>, which placed deterring China at the forefront of the Department of War\u2019s efforts.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is increasingly clear that China and Russia want to shape a world consistent with their authoritarian model,\u201d the opening paragraphs of that document said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The shift \u201cdoesn\u2019t seem aligned with President Trump\u2019s hawkish views on China at all,\u201d said a Republican foreign policy expert briefed on the report, who like others was granted anonymity to discuss sensitive issues.<\/p>\n

The president has continued to express tough rhetoric toward China, including imposing staggering tariffs on Beijing and accusing Chinese President Xi Jinping of \u201cconspiring against\u201d the U.S. after he met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin at a military parade in the country\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n

Elbridge Colby, the Department of War\u2019s policy chief, is leading the strategy. He played a key role in writing the 2018 version during Trump\u2019s first term and has been a staunch supporter <\/a>of a more isolationist American policy. Despite his long track record as a China hawk, Colby aligns with Vice President JD Vance on the desire to disentangle the U.S. from foreign commitments.<\/p>\n

Colby\u2019s policy team is also responsible for a forthcoming global posture review, which outlines where U.S. forces are stationed around the globe, and a theater air and missile defense review, which takes stock of U.S. and allies\u2019 air defenses and makes recommendations for where to locate American systems. The Department of War is expected to release both reviews as soon as next month.<\/p>\n

A Department of War spokesperson declined to comment on the reviews. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

The three documents will be intertwined in many ways. Each will emphasize telling allies to take more responsibility for their own security, the people said, while the U.S. consolidates efforts closer to home.<\/p>\n

Allies are especially worried about the fallout of the global posture review, given that it could pull U.S. troops away from Europe and the Middle East and cut critical security assistance programs.<\/p>\n

A Department of War official and European diplomat confirmed a Financial Times report<\/a> that the Department of War\u2019s Baltic Security Initiative \u2014 which grants hundreds of millions of dollars a year to Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia to help build up their defenses and military infrastructure \u2014 will lose funding this year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n