Trump’s ‘America first’ sees China, Russia as US rivals

Bloomberg

President Donald Trump called Russia and China “rival powers” to the US but said he’ll continue to try to partner with them as he outlined a muscular foreign policy that attempts to turn his “America First” campaign pledge into statecraft.
Trump’s first official national security strategy is in some ways little different from those of his predecessors. Its four broad goals — to protect Americans and their homeland, promote national prosperity, preserve “peace through strength” and advance American influence — are essentially noncontroversial.
But Trump departed from former President Barack Obama in declining to maintain climate change as a national security threat, and to a greater extent than his immediate predecessor, he fused economic and military threats. Growth in gross domestic product is “one of America’s greatest weapons” Trump said, declaring that past US leaders he didn’t name had failed to effectively protect US interests in areas including trade, defense and counter-terrorism.
“For many years, our citizens watched as Washington politicians presided over one disappointment after another,” Trump said in a speech to military and homeland security officials in Washington. “Our leaders in Washington negotiated disastrous trade deals that brought massive profits to many foreign nations but sent thousands of American factories and millions of American jobs to those other countries.”
At points, Trump’s speech struck a different tone than the official document that was released by the White House outlining his “America first” foreign policy — especially in his discussion of Russia and China.
The strategy document takes a tough line on Russia, accusing the country of trying to undermine “the legitimacy of democracies.” In his remarks, Trump called Russia a rival but also described the country as a potential partner.
He noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin had called him to thank him for information the CIA shared that helped to thwart an alleged terror attack planned for St. Petersburg. “That is the way it’s supposed to work,” Trump said.

STRATEGIC COMPETITORS
Trump said that China seeks “to challenge American influence, values, and wealth.” But he did not call the country a “strategic competitor,” as senior administration officials said he would the day before the speech. “Any nation that ends up trading its prosperity for security will end up losing both,” Trump said. “We recognize that weakness is
the surest path to conflict and unrivaled power is the most certain means of defense.”
The strategy document makes one reference to “strategic competitors” without specifically applying the term to China. Former President George W. Bush used the phrase to describe China when he initially took office. The Chinese found the term deeply offensive and lobbied Washington to drop the phrase, which it eventually did.
But the document does accuse China of unfair trade practices that put the US at a disadvantage. China’s embassy in Washington called Trump’s speech “contradictory,” saying the US wants to develop a partnership for cooperation while also viewing China as a rival.
“Putting one’s own interest above that of others and the international community is complete selfishness which will lead to self isolation,” the embassy said in a statement.