The Trump Doctrine and Global Security

Remarks as prepared by Fred Fleitz to the German-American Institute Heidelberg (Deutsch-Amerikanisches Institut, (DAI) in Heidelberg, Germany, on February 4, 2026.

Guten Tag, distinguished guests and friends. It is a pleasure to be here to discuss the Trump Doctrine and Global Security with you. I am an American conservative, a supporter of President Trump, and I was proud to serve as Chief of Staff of the United States National Security Council in President Trump’s first term. I now work for a conservative think tank in Washington, D.C., the America First Policy Institute. I want to make clear that I am not speaking for the Trump Administration tonight.

The history of our two nations is a bond forged in the fires of the Cold War and strengthened by our shared commitment to Western civilization. From the Berlin Airlift to the Fall of the Berlin Wall, the United States and Germany have proven that we are at our best when we stand shoulder-to-shoulder in defense of sovereign values.

This brings me to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and Germany’s role in this crucial security alliance. Germany joined NATO in 1955, transforming from a divided nation into a pillar of the Alliance. NATO's Article 5 — the principle that an attack on one is an attack on all — has deterred aggression for more than seven decades. It was invoked only once, after the 9/11 attacks on America, when German forces joined the U.S. in Afghanistan, fighting terrorism far from our shores to protect our homelands. More than 3,300 German troops served in this war. Dozens of brave German soldiers made the ultimate sacrifice in places like Kunduz and Mazar-i-Sharif.

The American people will forever be grateful to Germany for its support for our country after the 9/11 attacks. We recognize that Germany’s commitment to our mutual security is not just about a line item in a budget, but about the lives of your sons and daughters. We honor that service, and we thank you.

The historic ties between America and Germany are not artifacts in a museum; they are the foundation of our shared security. This is a permanent, long-term relationship that will outlive the disagreements of the moment. This is not to say there will not be changes in America’s relationship with Germany or with NATO, given shifts in the security situation and bilateral relations.

But I firmly believe that the disagreements of today are just blips in the history of our long-term friendship and security relationship and that we will continue to work through our differences as friends and send a message to the world and to the enemies of freedom that our nations remain united and resolved to promote freedom, justice, and human dignity.

America First and the Trump Doctrine

President Trump’s two terms as president have introduced changes, challenges, and some disagreements in America’s relationship with NATO allies and Europe. These issues stem from different approaches to U.S. foreign policy by President Trump and U.S. conservatives, new security challenges, and some lingering differences and issues between the U.S. and Europe.

Many in the U.S. call this new foreign policy philosophy the “America First Approach to U.S. National Security.” However, when I discuss this concept with our friends in other countries, I like to call it the Trump Doctrine, because the “America First” concept can be misunderstood to mean isolationism or America alone, when it is neither.

The Trump National Security Strategy, released in December 2025, and the National Defense Strategy, released on January 23, 2026, discuss the Trump Doctrine and ways that the administration plans to implement it.

These strategy documents are an important window into the ambitious national security policy of the second Trump Administration. My remarks today address key issues raised in these documents and other important aspects of the Trump Doctrine outlined by the president.

Contrary to what you may have heard from CNN or the New York Times, the Trump Doctrine is not anti-European. It does not mean the end of NATO or the rules-based global order.

In fact, as the National Security Strategy states, the Trump Doctrine is intended to “promote European greatness” and emphasizes America’s emotional attachment to Europe.

So what is this approach? What is the Trump Doctrine?

It is a form of realist nationalism intended to preserve the U.S. as a sovereign, independent republic and to secure the natural rights and well-being of its citizens. It calls for taking control of U.S. borders. This doctrine puts the interests of the U.S., the American people, the U.S. economy, and the American way of life first when U.S. officials make foreign and economic policy decisions.

This includes when U.S. officials send U.S. troops abroad or sign treaties and trade deals. It reflects a concern by many Americans that both Republican and Democratic presidents made bad foreign policy decisions and agreements because they were favored by the so-called liberal foreign policy establishment, but were not in the interests of the American people.

This doctrine also calls for the U.S. to have the world’s strongest military, the strongest deterrence, and the world's strongest economy.

By significantly increasing defense spending and modernizing the nuclear triad, the Trump Administration wants to ensure that adversaries like Russia and China understand the cost of aggression. It means peace through strength, and that American strength is the best deterrent. This approach includes a predisposition to nonintervention but also allows the use of military force when necessary to protect the security of the U.S. and its allies.

The Trump Doctrine requires a president who will use U.S. military power prudently and keep the U.S. out of new and unnecessary wars, especially wars that do not involve U.S. strategic interests.

The Trump Doctrine is not isolationism, nor does it represent “America alone.” It includes working closely with our alliances and pressing alliance members to take responsibility for defending their regions. It means working with the United Nations (UN) and multilateral organizations when it is in America’s interests. It does not mean ceding sovereignty or foreign policy decision-making to the UN and stands for the primacy of the nation-state over transnational bodies.

President Trump explained some significant changes to the Trump Doctrine in his second term during a speech in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on May 13, 2025, in which he called for peace in the Middle East through “commerce, not chaos,” said he did not believe America should have permanent enemies, and denounced nation-builders, neocons, and Western interventionalists for failed efforts that he said destabilized the region.

The speech was a message to Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea that President Trump wanted to end hostile relations with them and pursue trade deals to promote mutual prosperity. The president was also trying to communicate to these states that he wanted to find ways for the U.S. to coexist with them.

Ukraine and NATO

Stopping the killing in Ukraine has been a high priority for President Trump for several years. The National Security Strategy reflects this sentiment by stating that quickly ending the war in Ukraine is a core interest of the U.S. The reasons for this position are to end and prevent escalation of the war, enable post-war reconstruction of Ukraine to enable its survival as a viable state, and to stabilize European economies.

The Trump Administration has been engaged in intensive diplomacy to get a cease-fire in this vicious conflict that is a result of unprovoked aggression by Russia, ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin. This war has proven harder to resolve than the president anticipated, but his diplomats are continuing to engage Russia and Ukraine in their search for peace.

There was some tension between the U.S. and Ukraine, and the U.S. and Europe, over President Trump’s efforts to end the war in Ukraine. However, European and Ukrainian leaders are now on the same page with the U.S. The U.S. is selling weapons to NATO that NATO members are providing to Ukraine. Recently, there were two rounds of trilateral talks — for the first time — that reportedly went well. The U.S. and Ukraine are close to a security guarantee agreement that relied heavily on input from our NATO allies. President Trump also recently gave the green light to a bipartisan Senate bill that would impose strong economic sanctions on Russia.

My personal view is that although there may be some progress in negotiations with Russia and Ukraine, peace is not near. I believe strong international resolve and sanctions may be necessary to force Putin to begin to negotiate in good faith and agree to a cease-fire.

Some of the tension between the U.S. and NATO states over the Ukraine War concerned President Trump's plans to reform NATO. President Trump has been critical of NATO leaders (and President Biden) for not doing enough to stop the war in Ukraine and notes there were no peace negotiations before he returned to the White House.

The Trump Doctrine calls for reestablishing strategic stability with Russia. Related to this goal, it calls for ending NATO as a perpetually expanding alliance. One factor here is the Trump Administration’s belief that continuing to isolate Russia is driving it into the arms of China, which is strengthening a Russia-China axis, an alliance that is a far more serious threat to global security than the Ukraine War.

President Trump also wants NATO members to pay their fair share toward defending Europe and for European states to take primary responsibility for defending Europe because he plans to shift U.S. military forces to Asia to address growing security threats from China.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio was very clear about the Trump Administration’s policy toward NATO in his testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week. He said that although the U.S. is seeking “flexibility” to shift some military forces from Europe to address threats from China in the Indo-Pacific, it remains committed to NATO. However, Secretary Rubio also said NATO has to be “reimagined” because the U.S. is not simply focused on Europe, has defense needs in the Western Hemisphere and the Indo-Pacific, and does not have unlimited resources.

The Trump Doctrine in the second Trump Administration has also stressed that energy security is national security. President Trump has urged European states not to be dependent on energy imports from Russia and has urged that all of these imports end as soon as possible due to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.

Free, fair, and balanced trade is also a priority in the Trump Doctrine. This means lowering barriers for those who play by the rules while ensuring that U.S. "openness" is not exploited by state-led economies that do not share our commitment to fair competition.

We should be honest about our disagreements —whether on tariffs, subsidies, or digital regulation. However, we cannot let these friction points fracture the broader alliance.

The National Security Strategy explains that the Trump Doctrine’s economic priorities also include secure supply chains, reindustrialization, and strengthening defense production.

Israel and Iran

Ending the war in Gaza, promoting Middle East peace, and stopping Iran from getting nuclear weapons are priorities of President Trump, and led to some changes in his doctrine.

President Trump has always been a strong friend of Israel and the Jewish people. President Trump has stood solidly with Israel after the horrific massacre of Israelis by Hamas on October 7, 2023, an attack that was funded and may have been directed by Iran. The National Defense Strategy notes America’s special relationship with Israel and calls for further empowering Israel to defend itself and promote our shared interests.

President Trump sent envoys to negotiate an end to this conflict shortly after he won the 2024 election — before he was inaugurated — with the support of the outgoing Biden administration. President Trump’s Gaza War peace effort resulted in the historic 20-point peace plan last October that succeeded in Hamas freeing all remaining Israeli hostages and establishing a shaky cease-fire that is still in place. The Board of Peace has begun a new phase in the peace plan to rebuild Gaza in stages and hopefully bring about peace and prosperity.

The peace plan has broad support but has some controversial elements. Hamas has not yet agreed to disarm and does not like the Board of Peace or plans for an international stabilization force. The plan calls for creating a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood when conditions are right, after the Palestinians reform. Hamas and some U.S. allies want a more definitive and rapid progression to a Palestinian state. Israel has been critical of this element of the peace plan.

President Trump gave a green light to Israel’s massive airstrikes against Iran last June and later ordered U.S. airstrikes because he believes an Iranian nuclear bomb is an unacceptable threat to global security. By early 2024, Iran had produced 9-10 weapons' worth of near-weapons-grade uranium. Iran’s missile program was making rapid advancements.

The U.S. and Israeli attacks substantially set back Iran’s nuclear and missile programs and may have delayed an Iranian nuclear weapon by 5-10 years.

America was honored by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s principled support for the U.S. and Israeli military operations against Iran, especially when he described Israel's actions as "the dirty work Israel is doing for all of us" and said there was no reason to criticize the U.S. or Israeli attacks because of evidence that Iran was pursuing nuclear weapons.

Merz also distinguished himself from other European leaders when he was one of the first to forcefully condemn the brutal efforts by Iran’s theocratic autocracy to crush protests by millions of Iranians demanding freedom, when he said on January 12, “If a regime can only keep itself in power by force, then it’s effectively at the end. I believe we are now seeing the final days and weeks of this regime.”

Popular support for the Iranian regime was weakening for several years. However, the U.S. and Israeli strikes in June undermined it much further because the Iranian military was humiliated when it was unable to do anything to stop these attacks. This humiliation and increased sanctions against Iran played a role in the current uprising in Iran, as the Iranian people demand freedom and the end of the regime. President Trump has pledged his support for the Iranian people and could soon use military force against the Iranian regime in response to its murder of tens of thousands of peaceful protesters. My belief is that the U.S. and its allies also must initiate a long-term plan to support the Iranian people’s fight for freedom.

America is grateful that our European friends are standing with the Iranian people and that the European Union recently decided to designate Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization.

Focus on the Western Hemisphere

The strong focus on the Western Hemisphere in the Trump National Security Strategy and National Defense Strategy is to protect U.S. security interests in a stable region free of hostile influence.

The primary purpose of this focus is to reassert U.S. leadership in Central and South America and the Caribbean to defend the U.S. homeland from illegal migrants, gang members, and drugs crossing into our country, mostly through the U.S. southern border, as well as countering influence in Central and South America and the Caribbean from Russia, China, Cuba, and Hezbollah.

This message here, according to the National Security Strategy, is that the era of mass migration is over, and the urgency to end out-of-control migration into the U.S. and secure our borders.

Removing illegitimate Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro from power was central to President Trump’s plan to assert U.S. influence in the Western Hemisphere because Maduro was heavily involved in narcotics trafficking and had allowed Iran, Russia, and China to use his country as a base of operations in the region and to undermine U.S. security.

Also, part of this focus is securing the Arctic against current and future security threats, as well as for economic reasons. President Trump believes Greenland's status needs to be updated to address security threats from Russia and China. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has said he agrees with President Trump that NATO needs to do more to defend Greenland and Arctic security. As you may know, President Trump announced at the Davos Forum a framework agreement to address Greenland's security issues.

The Trump Doctrine and the Indo-Pacific

On the Indo-Pacific, the Trump Doctrine calls for promoting stability and security through collective defense, leading from a position of strength, free and fair trade with China, and diplomacy with Beijing.

The National Security Strategy calls for the U.S. to deny aggression anywhere in the First Island Chain and for U.S. allies in the region to do more for collective defense. It also calls for free and open Asia-Pacific and secure sea lanes. This should include increased defense spending by Japan and South Korea with a focus on new military capabilities.

The National Defense Strategy discusses the U.S. desire for a stable peace, fair trade, and respectful relations with China. This strategy calls for rebalancing America’s economic relationship with China, prioritizing reciprocity, and policies to restore American economic independence. According to the National Defense Strategy, the Trump Administration seeks a balance of power with China without humiliating it. The Trump Administration will pursue these goals from a position of strength, through deterrence, and through engagement with Beijing.

Returning to my opening comments, the Trump Doctrine and its descriptions in the National Security Strategy and National Defense Strategy represent new approaches to promoting American and global security amid emerging security threats. It represents improvements and corrections to previous failed U.S. foreign policies, as well as repairs to the rules-based international order. It presses for free, fair, and balanced trade. It is a doctrine that aligns with U.S. and European values and security concerns but also reflects the cold realities of new global threats, especially from Russia and China, and how we need to work together and make adjustments to address them. It is a doctrine that calls on our allies to do more to defend their regions and engage in free and fair trade, while also valuing our alliances and defense partnerships.

The U.S. and Germany have had a long and productive relationship. Germany is the linchpin of transatlantic security, a friend and ally that is vital to American security. We may not completely agree on the Trump Doctrine, but I believe it is an American foreign policy aimed at strengthening our crucial security alliances and a strong America to promote global peace and security.

Thank you, and God bless Germany and the United States.