WASHINGTON — President Donald J. Trump called Russia and China “rival powers” to the US but said he’ll continue to try to partner with them as he outlined a muscular foreign policy that attempts to turn his “America First” campaign pledge into statecraft.

Mr. Trump’s first official national security strategy is in some ways little different from those of his predecessors. Its four broad goals — to protect Americans and their homeland, promote national prosperity, preserve “peace through strength” and advance American influence — are essentially noncontroversial.

But Mr. Trump departed from former President Barack Obama in declining to maintain climate change as a national security threat, and to a greater extent than his immediate predecessor, he fused economic and military threats.

Growth in gross domestic product is “one of America’s greatest weapons” Mr. Trump said, declaring that past US leaders he didn’t name had failed to effectively protect US interests in areas including trade, defense and counterterrorism.

“For many years, our citizens watched as Washington politicians presided over one disappointment after another,” Mr. Trump said in a speech to military and homeland security officials in Washington. “Our leaders in Washington negotiated disastrous trade deals that brought massive profits to many foreign nations but sent thousands of American factories and millions of American jobs to those other countries.”

At points, Mr. Trump’s speech struck a different tone than the official document that was released by the White House outlining his “America first” foreign policy — especially in his discussion of Russia and China.

The strategy document takes a tough line on Russia, accusing the country of trying to undermine “the legitimacy of democracies.” In his remarks, Mr. Trump called Russia a rival but also described the country as a potential partner.

He noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin had called him Sunday to thank him for information the CIA shared that helped to thwart an alleged terror attack planned for St. Petersburg.

“That is the way it’s supposed to work,” Mr. Trump said.

STRATEGIC COMPETITORS
Mr. Trump said that China seeks “to challenge American influence, values, and wealth.” But he did not call the country a “strategic competitor,” as senior administration officials said he would the day before the speech.

“Any nation that ends up trading its prosperity for security will end up losing both,” Mr. Trump said. “We recognize that weakness is the surest path to conflict and unrivaled power is the most certain means of defense.”

The strategy document makes one reference to “strategic competitors” without specifically applying the term to China. Former President George W. Bush used the phrase to describe China when he initially took office. The Chinese found the term deeply offensive and lobbied Washington to drop the phrase, which it eventually did.

But the document does accuse China of unfair trade practices that put the US at a disadvantage.

China’s embassy in Washington called Mr. Trump’s speech “contradictory,” saying the US wants to develop a partnership for cooperation while also viewing China as a rival.

“Putting one’s own interest above that of others and the international community is complete selfishness which will lead to self isolation,” the embassy said in a statement.

‘YOU WIN I LOSE’
China’s official Xinhua News Agency issued a commentary in response to Mr. Trump’s speech entitled “The US Should Give Up ‘You-Win-I-Lose’ Mentality.” It urged Mr. Trump to shift his stance and called on the US to take more global responsibilities.

While the president did not outline potential economic actions that could target China during his speech, other US officials have signaled a shift from the more conciliatory approach Mr. Trump has taken with Chinese President Xi Jinping since being elected a year ago.

“We are in economic competition with China,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on the Fox News Sunday program. “This isn’t about trade wars. This is about reciprocal fair trade. And if we have to protect American workers and put on tariffs or other things, where they don’t have fair trade with us, the president will do that.”

Mr. Trump has had to balance his zeal to confront China over its trade practices with his need for Mr. Xi’s support in combating North Korea’s nuclear threat.

During his speech, Mr. Trump called on US allies to increase pressure on North Korea to further isolate the country and achieve denuclearization.

“This situation should have been taken care of long before I got into office, when it was much easier to handle,” Mr. Trump said Monday. “But it will be taken care of. We have no choice.”

Mr. Trump, who has also sought Russian help to pressure North Korea, did not mention the country’s attempt to interfere with the 2016 US election. The strategy document said Russia “interferes in the domestic political affairs of countries around the world” and “uses information operations as part of its offensive cyber efforts to influence public opinion” — including through social media “trolls.”

YOKOSUKA — The US Navy’s top officer on Tuesday said that vessels from eastern Pacific could be brought forward to reinforce US naval power in Asia as Washington contends with increased threats in the region and accidents that have weakened its maritime force.

“We will continue to assure that we meet all of our missions here in the Asia Pacific area. It could be something coming forward from Third Fleet or something like that to meet those requirements,” Chief of US Naval Operations Admiral John Richardson said at a briefing aboard the USS Ronald Reagan carrier in Japan. He declined to say when or how many ships could be transferred.

The growing threat posed by North Korea’s ballistic missile and nuclear weapon advances coupled with operations to counter China’s increasing military might in the South China Sea and other parts of Asia is putting an increased burden on the US Seventh Fleet.

That added pressure on crews has been blamed for contributing to a series of accidents involving naval vessels this year including collisions by two destroyers with merchant ships that killed 17 US sailors.

In August, the USS John S. McCain guided missile destroyer was struck by a merchant ship near Singapore, while its sister ship, the Fitzgerald, almost sank off the coast of Japan in June after colliding with a Philippine container ship.

Mr. Richardson spoke after US President Donald J. Trump unveiled a new national security strategy based on his “America First” vision that singled out China and Russia as “revisionist powers.” For its part, China is attempting to revise the global status quo by its aggression in the South China Sea, a US official said.

Beijing is building military bases there on manmade islands in waters claimed by other nations.

“One can only draw certain conclusion about what are the intentions of the Chinese with respect to those islands. We will respond as we have always done, which is that we are going to continue to be present down there,” Mr. Richardson said.

For now, he said, North Korea was the “most urgent” task for the US Navy in Asia as it became “more and more capable” with every new missile test. The latest ballistic missile tested on Nov. 29 reached an altitude of more than 4,000 kilometers (2485.48 miles), giving it enough-range, Pyongyang claims, to hit major US cities including Washington DC.

Mr. Richardson said his task in 2018 is to build a navy “more lethal” and “dangerous” to potential US foes.

“There is a near unanimous consensus that we need more naval power than we have now,” he said. — Reuters