Partisan polarization, electoral pressures and factional strife function together, driving Trump to take a tough stance abroad as his main tool in his political gamesmanship.

The U.S. president’s strategic shift is not temporary. It represents a medium- to long-term trajectory that stems from the confluence of simmering contradictions and various domestic and international factors.

Over the past year, territorial expansion, military intervention, economic coercion, resource plundering and withdrawal from international agreements have become hallmarks of Donald Trump's imperialism. He is expected to continue to pursue more in the days to come.

“There’s no question about it,” US President Donald Trump said at this month’s FIFA World Cup Final Draw ceremony: The game that Americans call soccer “is football,” and the United States has to “come up with another name” for its National Football League (NFL).

In the waning days of 2025, the United States unveiled its National Security Strategy (NSS), a document that reads less like a blueprint for global dominance and more like the confessions of a fading hegemon. Penned in the shadow of economic strains, industrial atrophy, and military overstretch, the NSS trumpets “America First” while subtly shifting the burdens of empire onto allies.

The new White House National Security Strategy provides a critical window for understanding America’s view of the roles of major powers and the international order. But Donald Trump’s brash and unpredictable personal characteristics are a wild card that will keep the world in suspense.

Maximum pressure, transactional thinking and an emphasis on spheres of influence all define Donald Trump’s approach to diplomacy and give concrete form to his “America first” ideology. In a world undergoing turbulent change, the impact and destructive effect of this approach demand vigilance.

Donald Trump and his supporters have neglected the historical role of science as the primary productive force behind America’s economic and military hegemony — an oversight that could put the United States at a disadvantage in the new round of global technological competition.

Donald Trump’s tariffs — the cornerstone of his economic agenda — are closely linked to inflation, revenues, spending and the reshoring of manufacturing. They are the key to assessing Trump’s economic impact, but they come with profound uncertainty.

The Trump administration’s emphasis has shifted toward homeland security and the security of the Western Hemisphere. At the same time its deeply contradictory and confused mindset on Taiwan is dangerous and could lead the military astray.