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Published : 12 Dec 2025, 01:09 AM
The US has explored setting up a new “Core 5” group including Russia, China, India and Japan, a move that could bring traditional adversaries closer and diverge from the G7.
The POLITICO reported that the idea surfaced in an unpublished extension of the National Security Strategy last week, although the White House has denied the existence of any such alternative document.
The US-based political news organisation said the proposed C5 would include the US, China, India, Japan and Russia -- a grouping that some observers in Washington believe aligns with President Donald Trump’s unconventional approach to global power politics.
It added that the reported concept echoes Trump’s preference for making deals with rival nations, citing his approval of Nvidia’s H200 AI chip sales to Beijing and the dispatch of Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushne to negotiate directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
A former White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Politico that while “nothing around a C5 or C7 was discussed”, conversations had occurred about existing structures like the G7 or the UN Security Council being “not fit for purpose given today’s new players”.
The outlet noted that the White House publicly insisted no longer, private or classified version of the National Security Strategy exists, with spokesperson Anna Kelly writing that the official 33-page plan is the only one.
As per the POLITICO, national security analysts said the C5 concept aligns with how Trump views global politics, “through an affinity for strongmen, and through a propensity of working with other great powers that maintain spheres of influence in their region,” according to Torrey Taussig, former NSC director for European affairs.
It noted that Europe is excluded from the proposed C5, which may signal to European leaders that the US views Russia as a dominant power in Europe.
Michael Sobolik, former aide to Senator Ted Cruz, cited the proposal as a sharp departure from Trump’s first-term China strategy.
The US defence establishment has previously entertained alternative configurations of global power.
The POLITICO cited Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth’s description of a recent Trump-Xi meeting as a historic “G2”, a remark that alarmed members of Congress.
