US Democrats slam Trump’s latest national security strategy

ISTANBUL

Several leading congressional Democrats criticized the Trump administration’s national security strategy, claiming that it prioritizes the president’s business interests and undermines US influence abroad.

"Donald Trump’s National Security Strategy puts his family’s and friends’ business interests with our adversaries, like Russia and China, over promises to our allies.

"If implemented, this plan would weaken U.S. influence across the globe and undermine our national security," Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona wrote on US social media company X.

The 33-page strategy, released late Thursday, emphasizes expanding US military presence in the Western Hemisphere, rebalancing global trade, and strengthening border security.

It also comprised contentious observations about Europe, claiming that the continent's economic decline is eclipsed by the "real and more stark prospect of civilizational erasure" within the next 20 years.

"It totally abandons the idea that we should stand up for freedom & human rights around the world.

"Instead, it lectures our European allies & embraces authoritarian leaders who enrich the Trump family & their billionaire friends," said Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen on X.

Colorado Congressman Jason Crow, for his part, said Friday that the National Security Strategy "would be catastrophic to America’s standing in the world, and would make us less safe."

"They want America to be smaller, weaker, and vulnerable. I will resist," he noted.

Senator Jeanne Shaheen, ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a Friday statement that the administration’s plan is “riddled with contradictions.”

“The American people deserve leadership that can deliver security and prosperity.

That means strengthening NATO, ensuring that Russia does not gain from its own war of aggression in Ukraine, competing seriously with China, and stabilizing our neighborhood through law enforcement, diplomacy, and development," Shaheen noted.

Instead, she said, Trump has charted a foreign policy that has "isolated" Washington on the world stage, "hurt our economy, raised prices for Americans, distanced our allies, and emboldened our adversaries.”