US Democrats Criticize Trump’s New National Security Strategy

Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, criticized Donald Trump’s new National Security Strategy (NSS) for prioritizing his family’s and friends’ business interests with adversaries like Russia and China over commitments to U.S. allies. “If implemented, this plan would weaken U.S. influence worldwide and undermine national security,” he wrote on X, according to The Hill.

The 33-page strategy, released late Thursday, emphasizes expanding the U.S. military presence in the Western Hemisphere, balancing global trade, tightening border security, and asserting cultural influence in Europe. It builds on Trump’s “America First” philosophy and marks the first time the document explicitly references applying the Monroe Doctrine, which historically called for U.S. dominance in the Western Hemisphere.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), a Foreign Relations Committee member, also criticized the strategy on X. “It abandons the idea of standing up for freedom and human rights worldwide,” he wrote. “Instead, it lectures European allies and embraces authoritarian leaders who enrich the Trump family and their billionaire friends.”

Van Hollen’s comments likely reference the NSS’s stance on Europe, which urges NATO countries and other allies hosting U.S. troops to increase spending on their own defense. The strategy accuses the European Union of stifling “political liberty” and calls for European nations to assume “primary responsibility” for their security, The New York Times reported.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth echoed that sentiment at the Reagan National Defense Forum Saturday, declaring a U.S.-first defense strategy and criticizing both allies and previous administrations. “Allies are not children,” he said in Simi, California. “We can and should expect them to do their part.”

Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.), who recently appeared in a video with Kelly and other Democrats urging service members not to follow “illegal orders,” warned Friday that the NSS “would be catastrophic to America’s standing in the world and make us less safe.” He added on X: “They want America to be smaller, weaker, and vulnerable. I will resist.”

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, described the strategy as “riddled with contradictions.” She said, “President Trump has pursued a foreign policy that has left the United States isolated globally, hurt our economy, raised prices for Americans, distanced our allies, and emboldened our adversaries.”

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, warned the strategy “foreshadows setbacks.” On social media Friday, he wrote, “America First is America alone, and we’ll pay the price.”