Washington, 24 January 2026 (dpa/MIA) - The United States will remain a key NATO ally and partner of Europe, but will prioritize homeland defence and deterring China, according to the Trump administration's new national defence strategy released late on Friday.

The document says Washington will continue to play a central role within NATO, even as it adjusts its military presence in Europe. It adds that "although Europe remains important, it has a smaller and decreasing share of global economic power."

The strategy states that while the US will remain engaged in Europe, it "must - and will - prioritize defending the U.S. Homeland and deterring China."

In Europe and other regions, allies are expected to take the lead against threats that are more severe for them than for the US, with what the strategy calls "critical but more limited support from the United States."

The defence strategy follows the release of a new national security strategy in early December, which was widely seen as a break with the tradition of close trans-Atlantic cooperation.

That document said previous US strategies had failed to give sufficient weight to core national interests and had prioritized the defence of other countries at the expense of the US population. The new approach, it said, is guided by the principle of "America First."

Photo: MIA archive