America Strikes Back: Trump’s Trade and Arms Blitz Stuns Global Rivals

Paul Riverbank, 2/7/2026Trump’s “America First” arms and trade policies link U.S. defense sales and economic strategy, aiming to secure industrial dominance and dollar leadership—raising hopes for allies, but also new questions about global power and emerging rival networks.

Peeling back the president's so-called “America First Arms Transfer Strategy,” a few things become clear. This isn't just a departmental memo shuffled around the Pentagon. The ideas, as set out by the White House, ripple out well beyond defense contractors or uniformed planners. Trump’s plan aims to steer more than $300 billion in annual arms exports, weaving national security with economic revival. The administration wants to turbocharge homegrown manufacturing while tightening the circle of priority customers. A firm handshake to nations willing to buy more, spend more, and—importantly—foot the bill for their own defense upgrades.

Look closer at the fine print, and you see how Washington’s talking tough with friends. Need a replacement for aging tanks? Priority given to allies seen as linchpins in American strategy—or at least those actively investing in their own militaries. Those less crucial, or perceived as dragging their heels, might find their requests for U.S. defense hardware gathering dust at the bottom of a lengthening queue.

Of course, speed and efficiency headline this strategy—an answer to years of bureaucratic gridlock that has exasperated both service chiefs and industry lobbyists. The order prods agency heads to trim the notorious “red tape”: from the Enhanced End Use Monitoring red lines, to the sometimes opaque hurdles of the Congressional Notification process. There's even talk of quarterly progress reports—a watchdog-style approach to see if promises of accountability stick, or if they just make for good press statements.

Congress, predictably, is watching through a magnifying glass. Lawmakers, always wary of executive overreach, look to safeguard their oversight role. They want to arm allies, yes, but not hand over the store without checks and balances. The latest strategy attempts a careful balancing act: press on the gas, but tap the brakes before transparency goes out the window.

What's striking is how the Trump administration has blurred the lines between economic and defense policy. Well before this latest move, the president encouraged defense companies to boost production targets, sometimes at the expense of their own profit margins. Streamlining approval processes, stifling bureaucracy, and singling out American-made gear as the default choice—all have become recurring refrains inside the West Wing.

Yet, arms shipments are just one arena in this high-stakes contest. Trade policy—especially negotiations with India—serves as another front in the struggle to preserve U.S. leverage. Recent negotiations with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi went beyond the wrangling over soybean tariffs or steel quotas. They cut to a deeper concern: keeping India from drifting away from the dollar at a time when the so-called Brics nations (now twice the size they were just a year ago) are experimenting with their own digital currencies and non-dollar trade. This club, a patchwork from Brazil to Indonesia, represents nearly half the planet’s people and commands a sizable chunk of global GDP.

That deal with India? It wasn’t just about goods moving across oceans. It’s about the U.S. dollar clinging to its spot at the center of world finance. There’s no small irony: in return for a cut in tariffs, India slowed its push for a new Brics-backed currency and promised big purchases from American manufacturers. All the while, Washington dialed back on penalties linked to India's prolific imports of Russian oil. Some analysts have been blunt—that this was a chess move to "rein in" the risk of other nations finding alternatives to the dollar.

The race isn’t limited to tankers and trading floors, either. Digital payments, once a niche topic, have been pushed to the diplomatic foreground. India’s evolving links with the European Union—tying its payment system directly to major European networks—could eventually bypass the dollar altogether. This innovation checks the box on G20 “efficiency” mandates, but in Washington, it raises a strategic eyebrow. A direct digital bridge between two economic powerhouses, outside traditional dollar channels, represents a new kind of challenge to U.S. financial clout.

It all circles back to the simple, uncomfortable truth: The power of the U.S. dollar extends far beyond finance. It’s about the ability to borrow inexpensively, enforce sanctions with a flick of the pen, and broker alliances in ways not always visible to the public eye. The prospect of more countries side-stepping the greenback means every deal—be it arms or agriculture—now carries extra urgency.

The India episode also highlights the risks of an old assumption: that economic and defense ties will always keep partners close. America's efforts to reel India in may just nudge New Delhi further toward Europe, or embolden its Brics ambitions. Sometimes, attempts to cement an alliance only make the fault lines more visible.

So, from streamlined arms deals to selective tariffs, what’s emerging is a kind of grand experiment—an assertive, sometimes improvisational, push to adjust the world’s power levers. Solutions may come faster, supply chains could tighten, but unintended consequences linger in the wings. As this new playbook unfolds, neither America’s friends nor its rivals are watching passively. They’re recalibrating their own strategies, reading the signals out of Washington, and, perhaps, rewriting a few rules of their own.

If there's a phrase that captures the mood in Washington lately, it might be "front-row seat, American style." This week, President Donald Trump brought fresh urgency to U.S. arms sales—issuing an executive order that puts American factories, and select allied capitals, directly in the spotlight. The old days, when overseas demand dictated which jets or missile batteries leapt off the drawing board (and which sat mired in years-long approval limbo), seem to be fading—at least for now.Peeling back the president's so-called “America First Arms Transfer Strategy,” a few things become clear. This isn't just a departmental memo shuffled around the Pentagon. The ideas, as set out by the White House, ripple out well beyond defense contractors or uniformed planners. Trump’s plan aims to steer more than $300 billion in annual arms exports, weaving national security with economic revival. The administration wants to turbocharge homegrown manufacturing while tightening the circle of priority customers. A firm handshake to nations willing to buy more, spend more, and—importantly—foot the bill for their own defense upgrades.Look closer at the fine print, and you see how Washington’s talking tough with friends. Need a replacement for aging tanks? Priority given to allies seen as linchpins in American strategy—or at least those actively investing in their own militaries. Those less crucial, or perceived as dragging their heels, might find their requests for U.S. defense hardware gathering dust at the bottom of a lengthening queue.Of course, speed and efficiency headline this strategy—an answer to years of bureaucratic gridlock that has exasperated both service chiefs and industry lobbyists. The order prods agency heads to trim the notorious “red tape”: from the Enhanced End Use Monitoring red lines, to the sometimes opaque hurdles of the Congressional Notification process. There's even talk of quarterly progress reports—a watchdog-style approach to see if promises of accountability stick, or if they just make for good press statements.Congress, predictably, is watching through a magnifying glass. Lawmakers, always wary of executive overreach, look to safeguard their oversight role. They want to arm allies, yes, but not hand over the store without checks and balances. The latest strategy attempts a careful balancing act: press on the gas, but tap the brakes before transparency goes out the window.What's striking is how the Trump administration has blurred the lines between economic and defense policy. Well before this latest move, the president encouraged defense companies to boost production targets, sometimes at the expense of their own profit margins. Streamlining approval processes, stifling bureaucracy, and singling out American-made gear as the default choice—all have become recurring refrains inside the West Wing.Yet, arms shipments are just one arena in this high-stakes contest. Trade policy—especially negotiations with India—serves as another front in the struggle to preserve U.S. leverage. Recent negotiations with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi went beyond the wrangling over soybean tariffs or steel quotas. They cut to a deeper concern: keeping India from drifting away from the dollar at a time when the so-called Brics nations (now twice the size they were just a year ago) are experimenting with their own digital currencies and non-dollar trade. This club, a patchwork from Brazil to Indonesia, represents nearly half the planet’s people and commands a sizable chunk of global GDP.That deal with India? It wasn’t just about goods moving across oceans. It’s about the U.S. dollar clinging to its spot at the center of world finance. There’s no small irony: in return for a cut in tariffs, India slowed its push for a new Brics-backed currency and promised big purchases from American manufacturers. All the while, Washington dialed back on penalties linked to India's prolific imports of Russian oil. Some analysts have been blunt—that this was a chess move to "rein in" the risk of other nations finding alternatives to the dollar.The race isn’t limited to tankers and trading floors, either. Digital payments, once a niche topic, have been pushed to the diplomatic foreground. India’s evolving links with the European Union—tying its payment system directly to major European networks—could eventually bypass the dollar altogether. This innovation checks the box on G20 “efficiency” mandates, but in Washington, it raises a strategic eyebrow. A direct digital bridge between two economic powerhouses, outside traditional dollar channels, represents a new kind of challenge to U.S. financial clout.It all circles back to the simple, uncomfortable truth: The power of the U.S. dollar extends far beyond finance. It’s about the ability to borrow inexpensively, enforce sanctions with a flick of the pen, and broker alliances in ways not always visible to the public eye. The prospect of more countries side-stepping the greenback means every deal—be it arms or agriculture—now carries extra urgency.The India episode also highlights the risks of an old assumption: that economic and defense ties will always keep partners close. America's efforts to reel India in may just nudge New Delhi further toward Europe, or embolden its Brics ambitions. Sometimes, attempts to cement an alliance only make the fault lines more visible.So, from streamlined arms deals to selective tariffs, what’s emerging is a kind of grand experiment—an assertive, sometimes improvisational, push to adjust the world’s power levers. Solutions may come faster, supply chains could tighten, but unintended consequences linger in the wings. As this new playbook unfolds, neither America’s friends nor its rivals are watching passively. They’re recalibrating their own strategies, reading the signals out of Washington, and, perhaps, rewriting a few rules of their own.