The Latest: Trump says America will 'stand up for ourselves'
By Associated Press
Dec 18, 2017 1:33 PM CST
President Donald Trump speaks on national security Monday, Dec. 18, 2017, in Washington. Trump says his new national security strategy puts "America First." (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)   (Associated Press)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump's national security strategy (all times local):

2:30 p.m.

President Donald Trump says a new era of competition is underway and that the U.S. will follow his 2016 campaign doctrine of "America First."

He said Monday that "America is in the game, and America is going to win."

Trump's strategy focuses on protecting the homeland, including building a wall on the U.S. Southern border and taking other steps on immigration. He also called for promoting American prosperity, demonstrating peace through strength and advancing American influence.

He said the U.S. will cooperate with other countries "in a manner that always protects our national interests."

Trump also said that the United States "will stand up for ourselves and our country like we have never stood up before." He called for competing "with every instrument of our national power."

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1:34 p.m.

President Donald Trump says his new national security strategy puts "America First."

In a forward accompanying the strategy — unveiled Monday — Trump says the United States faces "an extraordinarily dangerous world." He says he is prioritizing American citizens and that "America is leading again on the world stage."

The strategy envisions nations in constant competition, reverses Obama-era warnings on climate change, and affirms that the United States will unilaterally defend its sovereignty, even if that means risking existing agreements with other countries.

Trump says in his opening comments that when he took office, threats included "rogue regimes," ''radical Islamist terror groups" and "terrorists" in the Middle East. He adds that "porous borders and unenforced immigration laws" left Americans vulnerable at home and that trade practices weakened the economy.

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5 a.m.

President Donald Trump is poised to outline a national security strategy that envisions nations in a perpetual state of competition and de-emphasizes the multinational agreements that have dominated the United States' foreign policy since the Cold War.

The Republican president will detail his plans Monday. They could sharply alter the United States' relationships with the rest of the world.

The plan is to focus on four main themes: protecting the homeland and way of life, promoting American prosperity, demonstrating peace through strength and advancing American influence in an ever-competitive world.

Trump's doctrine holds that nation states are in perpetual competition and that the U.S. must fight on all fronts to protect and defend its sovereignty from friend and foe alike.

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