The White House rolled out a new plan Thursday to reshape how the United States sells weapons abroad, tying foreign arms sales directly to rebuilding American manufacturing and strengthening national security.
The executive order establishes an “America First Arms Transfer Strategy,” directing federal agencies to use record levels of U.S. defense sales to expand domestic production, shore up supply chains, and speed delivery of American-made weapons.
The order frames U.S. military equipment as the backbone of global defense exports and calls for using that advantage more deliberately. Instead of letting partner demand drive production, the strategy aims to align arms transfers with U.S. industrial capacity and long-term security needs.
Under the plan, arms sales will focus on weapons and systems considered most critical to the National Security Strategy. Foreign purchases and capital will help expand U.S. factories, strengthen supply chains, and support innovation from both traditional and emerging defense companies.
The strategy also prioritizes sales to allies and partners that invest in their own defense, occupy key strategic positions, or play an important role in U.S. military planning.
Several deadlines follow. Within 120 days, the Department of War, working with State and Commerce, must submit a catalog of priority weapons and platforms the United States wants allies to buy. Agencies must also identify foreign military and commercial sales that support long-term growth of the defense industrial base and expand advocacy for U.S.-made equipment.
The order directs agencies to work more closely with industry to improve coordination and ensure production capacity keeps pace with demand.
A major focus of the strategy is cutting bureaucracy. The order calls for faster and more efficient end-use monitoring, streamlined third-party transfer approvals, and improved coordination around congressional notifications. Officials say those steps aim to reduce backlogs, cost overruns, and years-long delivery delays that have plagued past arms sales.
To oversee implementation, the administration created a new Promoting American Military Sales Task Force. The group will meet regularly to track progress and publish aggregate quarterly performance metrics on arms sales and export licensing to improve transparency.
The White House said the strategy builds on earlier executive orders aimed at modernizing defense acquisitions, improving accountability in foreign military sales, and preventing defense contractors from prioritizing stock buybacks over production capacity.
Officials said the goal is to leverage more than $300 billion in annual U.S. defense sales to reindustrialize the country, strengthen deterrence, and ensure the United States and its allies can rely on timely access to American-made weapons.
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