U.S. priority is protecting Taiwan, Europe must contain Russia — leaked Pentagon document

This was reported by The Washington Post, citing a classified Pentagon strategy.

According to the outlet, the document, titled Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance and marked “secret/no foreign national”  in most sections, was distributed within the Department of Defense in mid-March under Hegseth’s signature.

"It outlines, in broad and sometimes partisan detail, the execution of President Donald Trump’s vision to prepare for and win a potential war against Beijing and defend the United States from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama Canal," the report states.

The document also directs the military to take a more active role in combating illegal immigration and drug trafficking.

The report notes that both Donald Trump's first administration and Joe Biden's administration identified China as the greatest threat to the U.S., adjusting military planning to prepare for conflict and deterrence in the Pacific. However, Hegseth’s directive is unusual because it treats a potential Taiwan invasion as an exceptional scenario that should take precedence over all other threats. It calls for a reorientation of the U.S. military’s vast infrastructure toward the Indo-Pacific, moving beyond traditional homeland defense.

“China is the Department’s sole pacing threat, and denial of a Chinese fait accompli seizure of Taiwan — while simultaneously defending the U.S. homeland is the Department’s sole pacing scenario,” Hegseth wrote.

Under his strategy for structuring and resourcing U.S. forces, Pentagon planning for great-power conflicts would focus exclusively on China. The document states that the threat from Moscow should primarily be managed by European allies.

The report notes that while the Biden administration's 2022 National Defense Strategy emphasized alliances in countering Russian aggression — calling "mutually-beneficial Alliances and allies … our greatest global strategic advantage" — Hegseth’s directive shifts the burden onto NATO. It states that NATO must take on a "far greater" role in containing Russia, as the U.S. will be reluctant to commit troops, with its focus elsewhere.

• Previously, U.S. intelligence agencies identified China as the country’s primary military and cyber threat.