1、1ATLANTIC COUNCILJuly 2025How to counter China in the Indo-Pacific and beyondThe National Defense Strategy(NDS)of the second Donald Trump administration is likely to prioritize China as the primary com-petitor of the United States.This is a mar-ked change from the NDS of the first Trump administrati
2、on and that of the Joe Biden administration.Both administrations cente-red great-power competition in Department of Defense(DoD)strategy,weighing China and Russiaand therefore the Indo-Pacific and Europeas twin focal points of risk and strategic interest.The current Trump administration is shifting
3、gears.Rather than balancing China and Russia,the DoD will now organize around China as the principal threat and competitor(prioritizing it alongside homeland defense).Until and unless these two top priorities are met,everything else must be deprioritized.Prioritization is welcome.To the ire of de-fe
4、nse planners,the United States has long attempted to prioritize too much in its NDS.In their view,the strategy attempts to ba-lance too many regions and too many threats to the United States without a cor-responding increase in defense budget,making it difficult to address any of them effectively.Th
