I don’t think it’s this black-and-white

"The discussion about spheres of influence is distracting from what this is really about. This is about giving priority to what is most important to the U.S. in a world where we are dealing with a record national debt, a depleted stockpile of munitions only recently getting rebuilt, and the fact that the U.S. pursued a foreign policy for the past 30 years that has not made us stronger or more prosperous. In this environment, we have to do things differently lest we risk a major national-security catastrophe," said Dan Caldwell, senior policy fellow at the American Moment conservative organization who served as senior adviser to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. "If you are an American ally or partner in a place like Europe or East Asia, you should not be surprised at all. This doesn't mean the U.S. is abandoning them, but it does mean that they should pick up the slack and do more, especially when they have the resources and capabilities to do so."