National Security Plan Hints at Return to Cold War Footing

President Trump’s first national security strategy, which envisions rivalries with China and Russia, is at odds with his often-warm relations with the leaders of those two countries.

President Trump’s first national security strategy envisions a world in which the United States confronts two “revisionist” powers — China and Russia — that are seeking to change the global status quo, often to the detriment of America’s interests.

But while the document outlines a detailed plan to push back against China’s global economic ambitions, it says little about dealing with the kind of cyber and information warfare techniques that Moscow used to try to influence the 2016 presidential election.

The strategy, which Mr. Trump presented in a speech on Monday afternoon, is the first comprehensive effort by his administration to describe an all-encompassing strategic worldview. Administration officials said it was drawn from speeches Mr. Trump had delivered during the presidential campaign, in Europe and Asia and at the United Nations.

It describes a world that was on a three-decade holiday from superpower rivalry, and suggests that holiday is over.

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