Trump’s Monroe Doctrine- United States National Security Strategy

👥 Who reportedly shaped the 2025 National Security Strategy (NSS)

While authorship is rarely publicly enumerated line-by-line, recent coverage of the 2025 NSS gives us a few names and clues about who had outsized influence:

The new 2025 NSS was released under Donald J. Trump — so its official provenance is his presidency.

Among those reportedly playing a “lead author” or key drafting role is Michael Anton, the director of the State Department’s Policy Planning Staff. According to a recent account, Anton “was instrumental in drafting” the new NSS.

Another name associated with the process is Kevin Harrington, identified in the same reporting as “senior director of strategic planning” on the NSC and a key figure helping lead the process.

More broadly, the administration’s shift in structure — elevating certain advisors and consolidating roles, such as combining homeland-security and national-security advisories — suggests that staff from the NSC, the State Department, and possibly others (e.g. Defense, intelligence agencies) participated, under the direction of trusted political appointees.