Trump's defense strategy revealed! US to focus on homeland, deterring China — what's in for Iran, Korea, Russia?

The United States' Department of War released its National Defence Strategy 2026, prioritising the defense of the US Homeland and its interests in the Western Hemisphere. It aligns with the idea: "America First. Peace Through Strength. Common Sense."

The document focuses on China, Russia, and Iran. It mentions 'China' 22 times, 'Russia' 13 times, Iran 11 times and Korea 13 times.

The text does not mention 'India' even once. This is seen as a significant departure from previous strategies (2017, 2022) that viewed India as a "Major Defense Partner."

The document states that US President Donald Trump seeks a stable peace, fair trade, and respectful relations with China. "He has shown that he is willing to engage President Xi Jinping directly to achieve those goals," the documents read.

The US will erect a "strong denial defense" along the First Island Chain (FIC) and seek a "decent peace" rather than regime change in Beijing.

In line with President Trump's idea of negotiating "from a position of strength," the Department of War said it will "seek and open a wider range of military-to-military communications with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) with a focus on supporting strategic stability with Beijing as well as deconfliction and de-escalation, more generally."

The department, however, clarified that the US' goal "is not to dominate China; nor is it to strangle or humiliate them."

It's rather simple: "To prevent anyone, including China, from being able to dominate us or our allies—in essence, to set the military conditions required to achieve the NSS goal of a balance of power in the Indo-Pacific that allows all of us to enjoy a decent peace."

"We will be strong but not unnecessarily confrontational," the documents reads. Further seeking allies' support to deal with China or other deterrents, the Department said, "Our allies will do so not as a favor to us, but out of their own interests."

It laid a condition for Europe: "In Europe and other theaters, allies will take the lead against threats that are less severe for us but more so for them, with critical but more limited support from the United States."

As per the US' latest strategy, the Department of War "will empower regional allies and partners to take primary responsibility for

deterring and defending against Iran and its proxies, including by strongly backing Israel’s efforts to defend itself; deepening cooperation with our Arabian Gulf partners; and enabling integration between Israel and our Arabian Gulf partners, building on President Trump’s historic initiative, the Abraham Accords."

It calls Israel "a model ally" and says the US will "further empower it [Israel] to defend itself and promote our shared interests, building on President Trump’s historic efforts to secure peace in the Middle East."

"Likewise, in the Gulf, US partners are increasingly willing and able to do more to defend themselves against Iran and its proxies, including by acquiring and fielding a variety of US military systems.

The US said it stands ready to take direct action against Islamic terrorists "who are both capable of and intent on striking the U.S. Homeland, including in close coordination with interagency and foreign partners."

"We will simultaneously seek to empower allies and partners to lead efforts to degrade and destroy other terrorist organizations," the US Department say.

Korean Peninsula

The US Department claims that South Korea is capable of taking primary responsibility for deterring North Korea with critical but more limited US support. It notes that South Korea also has the "will to do so, given that it faces a direct and clear threat from North Korea."

"This shift in the balance of responsibility is consistent with America’s interest in updating US force posture on the Korean Peninsula. In this way, we can ensure a strong US interest in the Western Hemisphere," the department says.

The Department of War's document states that American interests are also "under threat throughout the Western Hemisphere."

"The Department will also continue to play a vital role in NATO itself, even as we calibrate US force posture and activities in the European theater to better account for the Russian threat to American interests as well as our allies’ own capabilities," the US said.

It claimed that Moscow is in "no position to make a bid for European hegemony."

"European NATO dwarfs Russia in economic scale, population, and, thus, latent military power. At the same time, although Europe remains important, it has a smaller and decreasing share of global economic power," the department says.