Latin American countries must grant no-bid contracts to U.S. companies. Taiwan’s significance boils down to

semiconductors and shipping lanes. Washington’s “hectoring” of the wealthy Gulf monarchies needs to stop.

The world as seen from the White House is a place where America can use its vast powers to make money.

President Trump has shown all year that his second term would make it a priority to squeeze less powerful countries to

benefit American companies. But late Thursday, his administration made that profit-driven approach a core element of its

official foreign policy, publishing its long-anticipated update to U.S. national security aims around the world.

The document, known as the National Security Strategy, describes a world in which American interests are far narrower

than how prior administrations — even in Mr. Trump’s first term — had portrayed them. Gone is the long-familiar picture

of the United States as a global force for freedom, replaced by a country that is focused on reducing migration while

avoiding passing judgment on authoritarians, instead seeing them as sources of cash.

“We seek good relations and peaceful commercial relations with the nations of the world,” it says, “without imposing on

them democratic or other social change that differs widely from their traditions and histories.”

The National Security Strategy of Mr. Trump’s first term, by contrast, cast the world as a contest “between those who

favor repressive systems and those who favor free societies.”

Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times

account, or subscribe for all of The Times.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

Want all of The Times? Subscribe.