New ‘America First Arms Transfer Strategy’ to create a list of priority weapons to sell

WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump inked a new executive order today, calling for national production interests to be taken into greater account when the US sells foreign nations weapons, creating a new list of platforms to push on the market, and prioritizing arms sales for countries who invest more in their own defense spending.  

“To maintain our military dominance and technological superiority, the time has come to establish, implement, and execute an America First Arms Transfer Strategy,” Trump’s EO said. “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.”

“The United States will use arms sales and transfers to reinforce [Pentagon] 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,” the EO later adds.

The new policy centers around three prongs — creating clear direction and implementation guidance to arms transfer stakeholders, establishing a strategy that provides direction and implementation guidance to arms transfer, and streamlining processes across departments and agencies.

To get there, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio now have 90 days to develop “clear criteria” for determining which weapons and capabilities require Enhanced End Use Monitoring.

Then within 120 days of the order, the two department heads, along with the Secretary of Commerce, are tasked with drafting a “sales catalog of prioritized platforms” that the US will encourage allies and partners to buy from, while a future “Promoting American Military Sales Task Force” will be stood up to work on an implementation plan.

“This strategy will advance a technologically superior, ready, and resilient national security industrial enterprise,” Trump’s EO said. “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.”

Trump continues that countries who investment more heavily in their own self-defense and capabilities and have a “critical role or geography” in US plans will get priority in arm sales deals.