"But logistical consistency, like coherence and gravitas, does not characterize the new NDS. It is a document that supposedly nests within the National Security Strategy, explaining at greater length the implications of overall policy for the armed forces. The 2026 version does not do that. Rather, it restates some of the basic priorities of the Trump administration but for the most part confines itself to flattery of the president, insults, and bombast."
"In theory, the NDS should be a serious state paper. It should not, as this document does, refer to the president 47 times, and include five pictures of him, one suggestively placed immediately after a reproduction of Emanuel Leutze's Washington Crossing the Delaware. Nor should it make the absurd claim that Donald Trump has "rebuilt the American military to be the world's absolute best" and then insist, with modest adulation, that "it is essential to emphasize how much of an achievement this has been.""
The 2026 National Defense Strategy substitutes flattery and political bombast for logistical consistency, coherence, and gravitas. The 2026 National Defense Strategy purports to nest within the National Security Strategy yet mainly restates Trump administration priorities while confining itself to praise of the president, insults, and rhetorical excess. The strategy refers to the president 47 times and includes five photographs, one positioned after a reproduction of Washington Crossing the Delaware. The strategy claims that Donald Trump has "rebuilt the American military to be the world's absolute best" and emphasizes this accomplishment. Pentagon rhetoric verges on sycophancy, inviting comparisons to authoritarian honorifics, while national-security substance is marginalized.
Read at The Atlantic
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