VIRGINIA, U.S. – US President Donald Trump has signaled a dramatic shift in America’s defense priorities, telling military leaders that their role is no longer to “police” foreign nations such as Kenya and Somalia but to fight what he called an “enemy from within.”
Speaking at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, on Tuesday before more than 800 generals, Trump said the US military had for decades been drained by overseas campaigns while ignoring threats at home.
“Only in recent decades did politicians somehow come to believe that our job is to police the far reaches of Kenya and Somalia, while America is under invasion from within,” Trump declared.
The President did not specify the domestic “enemy,” but he likened the situation to war, announcing deployments to several US cities including Los Angeles, Washington, DC, Memphis, and Portland.
He also hinted at possible deployments to San Francisco, Chicago, and New York.
“We’re under invasion from within. No different than a foreign enemy, but more difficult in many ways because they don’t wear uniforms,” he said. “At least when they’re wearing a uniform, you can take them out. It’s war from within.”
The remarks raise uncertainty about Washington’s longstanding defense commitments in East Africa, particularly with Kenya.
The two countries have had close security cooperation for decades, anchored on joint efforts against terrorism and maritime threats.
Kenya hosts a US military base in Manda Bay, Lamu County, where American forces support operations against al-Shabaab in neighboring Somalia.
In 2023, the Biden administration designated Kenya a major non-NATO ally — a rare status among African states.
That same year, US Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III signed a five-year, $100 million defense cooperation deal with Kenya to strengthen counter-terrorism, maritime security, joint training, and technology transfer.
“No competitor can match our decades-long investment in the KDF,” the US State Department notes on its website, citing material support, maintenance programs, and officer training under the International Military Education and Training (IMET) program.
Trump’s pivot comes as the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) framework, which governs trade preferences for several African countries, expired on Tuesday without word from his administration.
For Nairobi, Trump’s comments inject fresh uncertainty into a partnership that has been described as “strategic” in countering regional instability.
