Trump Orders ‘America First’ Arms Transfer Strategy to Boost Defense Production

By Ginika Igboke

President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order directing the creation of an America First Arms Transfer Strategy, aimed at using U.S. arms sales to advance foreign policy goals while expanding domestic defense production capacity.

The order establishes a framework to strengthen American interests by leveraging foreign military purchases to boost U.S. manufacturing and build a more resilient national security industrial base. Under the strategy, allies—particularly NATO members—are expected to take greater responsibility for their own defense while relying on U.S.-made military equipment.

“American-manufactured military equipment is the best in the world, resulting in American dominance across international defense exports,” the order states. “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.”

The directive is designed to reinforce the U.S. defense industrial base and ensure a technologically superior and resilient manufacturing sector capable of supporting the military and allied nations.

“This strategy will advance a technologically superior, ready, and resilient national security industrial enterprise,” the order says.

The policy calls for a clear, coordinated arms transfer strategy, streamlined interagency processes, and increased production of key weapons systems designated by the Secretary of War. It also emphasizes using foreign capital to support domestic reindustrialization, strengthen supply chains, and encourage participation by new and nontraditional defense firms.

Like a previous executive order issued in April 2025, the directive prioritizes arms transfers to allies that contribute to U.S. economic and national security.

Within 120 days, the Secretary of War, in coordination with the secretaries of state and commerce, must submit a prioritized arms sales catalog to the president through the national security adviser.

Trump has previously signed orders to expand arms procurement and streamline weapons sales, including directives to increase shipbuilding investments. The administration has approved more than $15 billion in arms sales to Israel and Saudi Arabia amid rising tensions with Iran, with the State Department stating the transfers would enhance Israel’s self-defense capabilities without altering the regional military balance.

U.S. envoy to Taiwan Raymond Greene has said the island could become a “powerhouse in trusted global defense supply chains,” as part of an $11 billion defense package. In Ukraine, Trump shifted U.S. policy from direct military aid to negotiated arms sales, securing NATO agreements to fund weapons transfers.

“We’re sending weapons to NATO, and NATO is paying for those weapons, 100 percent,” Trump said in a July 2025 interview with NBC News. “The weapons go to NATO, and then NATO provides them, and NATO pays for them.”

Trump has issued more than 225 executive actions reshaping U.S. policy around an America First agenda, including expanded defense spending and military operations.