For the first time since returning to the White House, the administration has released Trump’s national security principles under the banner ‘America First,’ outlining reduced U.S. involvement in Israel and the Gulf, a reset with Putin and doubts about Europe’s strength amid migration and ‘loss of national identities’

A policy paper released Friday by the Trump administration outlining a new national security strategy is expected to unsettle U.S. allies around the world, including Israel. The document formally codifies the approach President Donald Trump has long promoted — a sharp pullback from American involvement overseas, including in the Middle East — under the guiding principle of “America First.”

According to the Associated Press, despite Trump’s deep engagement in Israel’s war in Gaza, as well as in Iran, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen, and despite his extended tour of the Gulf states, the United States plans to shift its strategic focus away from the region. The stated reason is Washington’s declining dependence on Arab oil.

The paper sharply criticizes previous U.S. administrations for efforts to shape political systems in the region or judge them. It says the U.S. must abandon what it calls the “misguided experiment” of lecturing Middle Eastern governments — especially Gulf monarchies — about their traditions and forms of rule. Trump views them as ripe for economic opportunity, and therefore the U.S. should “encourage and applaud reform when and where it emerges organically, without trying to impose it.”

The document, which the administration is required by law to publish, is the first since the Republican president returned to the White House in January. Its contents mark a sharp departure from the strategy set by his predecessor, Joe Biden, who sought to rebuild alliances strained during Trump’s 2016–2020 term and counter Russia under Vladimir Putin.

Rep. Jason Crow, a Colorado Democrat on the intelligence and armed services oversight committees, called the new strategy “catastrophic to America’s standing in the world,” arguing that retreating from alliances will make the world — and Americans — less safe

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