For his part, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson later issued an announcement, saying that the United States "faces a 21st century global environment that presents unconventional threats from non-state actors, as well as challenges to our economic and national security from traditional state actors."

"The State Department will work ... to implement this strategy," he added.

Overall the strategy was based in the context of an ever competitive world rife with political, economic and military competitions, all accelerated by information and data in the fiber domain, the White House officials argued earlier on Monday, saying Washington "has not been competing as effectively as it might across these competitions, and we need to do better to protect our interests."

According to the officials, what was specifically new in this report, compared with its predecessors, was the inclusion of economic and trade security into the report. The White House highlighted the protection of the US national security innovation base (SIB), a new term it introduced to "capture the range of activities" to secure the U.S. economic interest and beyond.

According to Michael O'Hanlon, a senior fellow on foreign policy at the Brookings Institution, Trump's report shows "there is a sense among some of the top team" in the White House that other nations are taking advantage of the United States.