Daily on Defense: New strategy eyes Panama and Greenland, stepping back from Europe, another shutdown threat, Trump’s non-apology.
took a lot of grief for his remarks at Davos last week, in which he declared the international rules-based order — which has guided the U.S. view of how nations should act since the end of World War II — a “fiction” that has been irreparably ruptured and replaced by an era of “great power rivalry,” where “strong do what they can, and the weak suffer what they must.
” While Trump was irritated by Carney’s description of a world where major powers such as the U.S. impose their will on middle powers through economic coercion and tariffs, the Pentagon’s new, released late Friday, embraces the idea that the U.S. top dog and will no longer be “distracted by interventionism, endless wars, regime change, and nation building.” Trump says U.S. doesn’t need NATO, while Europe wonders if he made up the ‘framework’ agreement on GreenlandIn fact, the strategy agrees with Carney that the old rules no longer apply, and that the quaint concept of rules-based international order is a “cloud-castle abstraction.” Instead,“America First” policy will see the United States flexing its military muscle to dominate the Western Hemisphere. “The United States will no longer cede access to or influence over key terrain in the Western Hemisphere,” reads the strategy. “DoW will therefore provide the President with credible options to guarantee U.S. military and commercial access to key terrain from the Arctic to South America, especially Greenland, the Gulf of America, and the Panama Canal.”The strategy signals a step back from America’s security commitment to European allies. “It is neither America’s duty nor in our nation’s interest to act everywhere on our own, nor will we make up for allied security shortfalls from their leaders’ own irresponsible choices,” it stated in the preamble, signed by Secretary. “No longer will the Department be distracted by interventionism, endless wars, regime change, and nation building.” The 34-page document labeled Russia as “a persistent but manageable threat to eastern Europe,” but says NATO’s European members are, or should be, “strongly positioned to take primary responsibility for Europe’s conventional defense,” albeit with “critical but more limited support” from the United States. “European NATO dwarfs Russia in economic scale, population, and, thus, latent military power,” the document read. “Our NATO allies are substantially more powerful than Russia — it is not even close. Germany’s economy alone dwarfs that of Russia,” the document argued. “It follows that, although we are and will remain engaged in Europe, we must — and will — prioritize defending the U.S. homeland and deterring China.”The strategy seeks “a stable peace, fair trade, and respectful relations with China,” and aims to deter China from trying to take over the self-governing island of Taiwan through “strength, not confrontation.” “Our goal in doing so is not to dominate China; nor is it to strangle or humiliate them. Rather, our goal is simple: To prevent anyone, including China, from being able to dominate us or our allies,” read the strategy, while adding “We will also be clear-eyed and realistic about the speed, scale, and quality of China’s historic military buildup.” “To that end, as the NSS directs, we will erect a strong denial defense along the First Island Chain. We will also urge and enable key regional allies and partners to do more for our collective defense. In doing so, we will reinforce deterrence by denial so that all nations recognize that their interests are best served through peace and restraint.”, co-chair of the Senate NATO Observer Group, was sharply critical of the new strategy, saying in a statement, that “Secretary Hegseth and the Trump Administration have severely missed the mark,” and can’t “be taken seriously when it demands defense spending targets from our partners that we could not even meet ourselves.” “This document wrongly shifts our national defense posture away from one of our top adversaries and undermines NATO and our alliances, Shaeen said. “Alarmingly, as Americans and our allies grow increasingly concerned by the President’s rhetoric, the Pentagon confirms it will provide the President with ‘credible options’ to guarantee America’s access to Greenland, the Gulf of Mexico and the Panama Canal.” “As I’ve repeatedly said, continuing down this path is bad for America and bad for our allies — helping adversaries like Putin and Xi who want to see NATO divided.” . If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email and we’ll add you to our list. And be sure to follow me on Threads and/or on X The shooting death of 37-year-old Alex Pretti by immigration enforcement officers in Minneapolis on Saturday has infuriated Democrats in Congress to the point they are threatening another partial government shutdown in just four days, if funding for Homeland Security is not dropped from the six appropriations measures headed for final passage. Among the agencies that would be funded in the roughly $1.33 trillion six-bill spending package, is funding for the Pentagon for the rest of this fiscal year, in addition to funding for ICE.. “When they’re killing two constituents in my state, and they’re taking two-year-olds out of the arms of their mom, and they are taking an elder Hmong man out of his house and putting him out there in his underwear, and then figuring out they have the wrong man. No, I am not voting for this funding.” While Democrats are in the minority in Congress, the Republicans don’t have enough votes to overcome a filibuster, which Minority Leader has vowed to use to block the DHS funding measure. “What’s happening in Minnesota is appalling — and unacceptable in any American city, Schumer said in a. “Senate Democrats will not provide the votes to proceed to the appropriations bill if the DHS funding bill is included.”Schumer, called on Republicans to work with Democrats to rewrite the DHS bill while advancing the other five funding bills. “Leader Thune could separate, which is what they did in the House, separate the five other appropriation bills, put them on the floor. They would pass, I think, overwhelmingly. Then let’s take up DHS,” said on CBS. “And, by the way, if those bills pass, 96 percent of the federal government is funded,” King said, “Take up DHS by itself. Let’s have an honest negotiation, put some guardrails on what’s going on, some accountability. And that would solve this problem.” “I hate shutdowns. I’m one of the people that helped negotiate the solution to end the last shutdown. But I can’t vote for a bill that includes ICE funding under these circumstances,” King said. China’s top general is the latest and most senior officer to fall victim to a purge of the top ranks of the Chinese military under President Xi Jinping’s campaign to root out corruption and remove disloyal military leaders whom he suspects of plotting against him.“The removal of Zhang, the 75-year-old son of a famous revolutionary general who has known Xi since childhood, elevates the purge into one of the biggest reshuffles imposed on the Chinese military since the Tiananmen Square crackdown of 1989,” thea former CIA analyst as calling the move “unprecedented in the history of the Chinese military and represents the total annihilation of the high command.”President Trump continued his running feud over the weekend, as Canada, in response to America’s combative trade war with its erstwhile close ally, closed a deal with China to cut tariffs on Chinese electric cars in return for lower tariffs on Canadian products. The deal was negotiated by Prime Minister“If Governor Carney thinks he is going to make Canada a ‘Drop Off Port’ for China to send goods and products into the United States, he is sorely mistaken. China will eat Canada alive, completely devour it, including the destruction of their businesses, social fabric, and general way of life,” Trumpon Truth Social Saturday. “If Canada makes a deal with China, it will immediately be hit with a 100% Tariff against all Canadian goods and products coming into the U.S.A.”In another post, he said, “China is successfully and completely taking over the once Great Country of Canada. So sad to see it happen. I only hope they leave Ice Hockey alone!” In response, Carney told reporters all Canada has done with China “is to rectify some issues that developed in the last couple of years.” “We have commitments under CUSMA not to pursue free trade agreements with non-market economies without prior notification. We have no intention of doing that with China or any other non-market economy.” Trump doesn’t do apologies. It’s not his thing, but in response to his inflammatory remark in a Fox News interview, that when NATO sent troops to Afghanistan, “they stayed a little back, little off the front lines,” he’s trying in his own way to make amends. The remark infuriated NATO allies who fought and died with U.S. troops in Afghanistan, often on the front lines. U.K. Prime Minister “The GREAT and very BRAVE soldiers of the United Kingdom will always be with the United States of America! In Afghanistan, 457 died, many were badly injured, and they were among the greatest of all warriors. It’s a bond too strong to ever be broken,” Trumpon Social Media. “The U.K. Military, with tremendous Heart and Soul, is second to none . We love you all, and always will! President DONALD J. TRUMP”Washington ExaminerWashington ExaminerBreaking DefenseAir & Space Forces Magazineaddresses the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs and Committee on Security and Defense. 1:30 p.m. 1700 Richmond Hwy., Arlington, Va. — Exchange Monitor Nuclear Deterrence Summit: “Accelerating the Mission: Delivering Deterrence with Urgency,” with 8 a.m. 1777 F St. NW — Council on Foreign Relations China Strategy Initiative and the University of California San Diego School of Global Policy 21st Century China Center discussion: “China and Congress: Is There Still a Bipartisan Consensus?” with8:30 a.m. 1700 Richmond Hwy., Arlington, Va. — Exchange Monitor Nuclear Deterrence Summit: “Accelerating the Mission: Delivering Deterrence with Urgency,” with Scott Pappano, principal deputy administrator, National Nuclear Security Administration;https://calendar.gwu.edu/event/the-case-for-american-power-shadi-hamid 12 p.m. — Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft virtual discussion: “Europe and the Crisis in Transatlantic Relations,” with former U.K. Ambassador to Russia, deputy director, Quincy Institute’s Better Order Project and research fellow at the Quincy Institute’s Grand Strategy Program; and1:30 p.m. 1779 Massachusetts Ave. NW— Carnegie Endowment for International Peace discussion: “Technology and the Bomb: Evaluating Proliferation Risks in a Rapidly Evolving World,” withhttps://carnegieendowment.org/events/2026/01/technology-and-the-bomb8 a.m. 801 Allen Y. Lew Pl., NW — Clarion Defence and the Hudson Institute 2026 Apex Defense Conference, with Jeff Frankston, acting deputy assistant secretary of defense for industrial base resilience; and8:15 a.m. 1700 Richmond Hwy., Arlington, Va.— Exchange Monitor Nuclear Deterrence Summit: “Accelerating the Mission: Delivering Deterrence with Urgency,” with updates from U.S. Strategic Command2:30 p.m. 232A Russell — Senate Armed Services Cybersecurity Subcommittee hearing: “The Department’s Cyber Force Generation Plan and the Associated Implementation Plan,” with Air Force, acting commander, U.S. Cyber Command, performing the duties of director, National Security Agency and acting chief of the Central Security Service; and Assistant Defense Secretary for Cyber Policyhttps://www.potomacofficersclub.com/events/2026-defense-rd-summit/10 a.m. 253 Russell — Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee Coast Guard, Maritime, and Fisheries Subcommittee hearing: “The Fleet We Funded: Assessing Coast Guard Force Laydown on the Heels of Historic Investment,” with Coast Guard Commandanthttps://events.forecastinternational.com/global-defense-spending-snapshot/register/2 p.m. — Government Executive Media Group’s DefenseOne virtual discussion: “From Skies to Seas: How Drones Are Reshaping The INDOPACOM Challenge”5 p.m. 1521 16th St. NW — Institute of World Politics discussion: “The War in Ukraine — An Update from the Front,” with8 p.m. — Jews United for Democracy and Justice virtual discussion: “Israel, Gaza and the Middle East: What Lies Ahead?,” with9:15 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW — Center for Strategic and International Studies summit: “Exploring Global AI Policy Priorities Ahead of the India AI Impact Summit,” with French Ambassador to the U.S.https://www.csis.org/events/exploring-global-ai-policy-priorities-ahead-india-ai-impact-summithttps://thinkdeterrence.com/events/reflections-on-russias-nuclear-behavior 12:45 p.m. 1957 E St. NW — George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs Sigur Center for Asian Studies discussion: “Making Sense of Japan’s Defense Policy: Continuities, Changes, and Challenges,” with“Initially it was a rescue, and then a romance. But then Sam seemed to undergo a personality change. He became abusive when Europa ignored his demands and even threatened violence. After 80 years, Europa had had enough. They would keep the marriage together for form’s sake, but it was effectively over. At least she got to keep Greenland.”Eliot A. Cohen, summing up the events of the last few weeks in an essay in the Atlantic titled “The Great Divorce"Grieving families of DC midair collision say more needs to be done to fix safety concerns one year after tragedy
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