Shaheen Statement on 2026 National Defense Strategy

(Washington, DC) – U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), a senior member of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee and co-chair of the U.S. Senate NATO Observer Group, released the following statement on the newly-published 2026 National Defense Strategy:

“Once again, Secretary Hegseth and the Trump Administration have severely missed the mark when it comes to prioritizing U.S. national security and taking China seriously as the pacing challenge to our nation. While past National Defense Strategies under Presidents Trump and Biden identified the national security challenges posed by China, this document wrongly shifts our national defense posture away from one of our top adversaries and undermines NATO and our alliances. This strategy cannot be taken seriously when it demands defense spending targets from our partners that we could not even meet ourselves.

“Alarmingly, as Americans and our allies grow increasingly concerned by the President’s rhetoric, the Pentagon confirms it will provide the President with ‘credible options’ to guarantee America’s access to Greenland, the Gulf of Mexico and the Panama Canal. As I’ve repeatedly said, continuing down this path is bad for America and bad for our allies—helping adversaries like Putin and Xi who want to see NATO divided.”

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