President Donald Trump has returned to the White House with a long national security to-do list. It starts with shoring up the U.S.-Mexico border while ridding the nation of criminal migrants who entered in significant numbers under former President Joe Biden. But Trump’s second term has no time to waste on more traditional matters of national security. 

The clock’s ticking because America’s strategic position has declined precipitously in the four years since Trump departed the Oval Office’s Resolute desk. Our global standing has eroded, and Biden’s disastrous Afghan retreat in 2021 revealed American weakness to the world, while China has grown significantly in military strength. Our enemies no longer fear us. Simply put, our relative present peace is fragile. Whether we can avoid major war is the key question confronting the 47th president.