Chairman Mast, Rep. Zinke Applaud President Trump's America First Arms Transfer Strategy
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast and Rep. Ryan Zinke, who chaired the committee’s Foreign Arms Sales Task Force, applauded President Trump’s executive order establishing the America First Arms Transfer Strategy, a new framework designed to strengthen the U.S. defense industrial base and ensure American arms manufacturers can meet the needs of the U.S. military, as well as allies and partners.
The strategy outlines concrete steps to expand domestic defense production capacity, reduce bureaucratic inefficiencies, and prioritize American interests by leveraging foreign purchases and investment to support U.S.-based manufacturing.
“America’s defense industry is the backbone of our military dominance and essential to operational integration with our allies,” said Chairman Mast. “President Trump is taking decisive action to protect and extend our military’s technological advantage for decades to come and remove inefficiencies to streamline our defense sales process. At its core, this strategy is about strengthening the American defense industrial base and ensuring the United States maintains the most lethal, capable fighting force in the world. I look forward to working with the Trump administration to codify these critical reforms into law and lock in America’s strategic edge.”
“President Trump’s America First Arms Transfer Strategy is a major step forward in strengthening our defense industrial base and putting American workers and American security first while also making sure our allies get the tools they need to secure their own defense needs,” said Rep. Zinke. “This order builds directly on the work of our Foreign Military Sales Task Force by using foreign investment to expand domestic production and by cutting through outdated bureaucracy so trusted partners can get U.S.-made capabilities faster. I am excited to continue to work with the Trump Administration and Chairman Mast to build upon the successful reforms we have enacted and ensure our arms sales process continues to support U.S. jobs, U.S. industry, and U.S. strategic leadership.”
The strategy builds on President Trump’s previous executive order and on key legislation spearheaded by the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s bipartisan Foreign Military Sales Task Force, which was established last March by Chairman Mast.
Throughout its duration, the task force engaged extensively with foreign partners, defense industry stakeholders, and U.S. government officials across the interagency to gather broad perspectives on reforms needed to modernize the foreign arms sales process and meet future demands.
The task force advanced several major reforms that codify President Trump’s April 2025 executive order, including the AUKUS Reform for Military Optimization and Review (ARMOR) Act and the Made-in-America Defense Act, both of which were signed into law last year.
Additional task force legislation advanced through committee markup included:
• H.R. 3613 – Streamlining Foreign Military Sales Act of 2025
• H.R. 4215 – ITAR Licensing Reform Act
• H.R. 3068 – Missile Technology Control Review Act
• H.R. 4335 – Abraham Accords Defense Against Terror Act
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