America First Arms Transfer Strategy

Trump establishes an America First Arms Transfer Strategy to use military equipment sales as a foreign policy tool and expand domestic production.

[ESTABLISHING AN AMERICA FIRST ARMS TRANSFER STRATEGY] By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: Section 1.  Purpose.  American-manufactured military equipment is the best in the world, resulting in American dominance across international defense exports.  It is critical that the United States fully use this comparative advantage in arms transfers as both a tool of foreign policy and a tool to expand domestic production and transfer. To maintain our military dominance and technological superiority, the time has come to establish, implement, and execute an America First Arms Transfer Strategy.  As the first strategy of its kind, it will ensure that future arms sales prioritize American interests by using foreign purchases and capital to build American production and capacity.  This strategy will advance a technologically superior, ready, and resilient national security industrial enterprise.  It will strengthen the United States defense industrial base to ensure it has the capacity to support our military and our allies and partners, especially as we increase burden-sharing. Sec. 2.  Policy.  It is the policy of the United States to intentionally use arms transfers as a tool of American foreign policy and to expand strategically relevant industrial production capacity in the United States by: (a)  establishing an America First Arms Transfer Strategy that provides clear direction and implementation guidance to arms transfer stakeholders; and (b)  streamlining processes across executive departments and agencies (agencies) to strengthen effectiveness and create efficiencies in our defense sales enterprise. Sec. 3.  An America First Arms Transfer Strategy.  (a)  An America First Arms Transfer Strategy shall accomplish the following objectives: (i)    The United States will use arms sales and transfers to increase production and build production capacity for weapons and platforms the Secretary of War determines to be the most operationally relevant for executing the National Security Strategy (NSS); (ii)   The United States will use foreign purchases and capital to support domestic reindustrialization, expand production capacity, and improve the resilience of the United States defense industrial base.  Arms sales and transfers will support Department of War (DoW) efforts to promote innovation and competition by incentivizing new entrants and nontraditional defense companies to contribute to the defense industrial base; (iii)  The United States will use arms sales and transfers to reinforce DoW acquisition and sustainment activities, including by building critical supply chain resilience and avoiding adding to backlogs on priority components and end-items that impact United States or ally and partner readiness; (iv)   Consistent with Executive Order 14268 of April 9, 2025 (Reforming Fore