Trump's Proposed 'Core Five' Superclub: A New Global Power Forum Including India, Russia, China and Japan

Reports suggest US President Donald Trump is considering the creation of a new elite global forum called the 'C5' or 'Core Five'.

This proposed grouping would bring together the United States, Russia, China, India, and Japan, potentially sidelining the existing G7 and other traditional forums based on democratic values and economic wealth.

According to American publication Politico, the concept for this new hard-power coalition appeared in an unpublished extended version of the National Security Strategy recently released by the White House.

While Politico couldn't independently verify the existence of this longer document, Defense One had previously reported on it.

The initiative reportedly aims to establish a body comprising major powers without the G7's prerequisites of wealth and democratic governance.

"The strategy proposes a 'Core Five,' or C5, consisting of the United States, China, Russia, India, and Japan – several countries with populations over 100 million. It would meet regularly, like the G7, at summits on specific topics. The first on the proposed C5 agenda: security in the Middle East, specifically the normalisation of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia," the report detailed.

White House press secretary Hannah Kelly has denied the existence of any "alternative, private, or secret version" of the official 33-page plan.

Nevertheless, national security experts believe the concept bears hallmarks of Trump's approach to international relations.

Torrey Taussig, former director for European affairs on the US National Security Council during Biden's administration, told Politico: "This is consistent with how we believe President Trump views the world, which is non-ideological, through a sympathy for strong players, and through a tendency to cooperate with other great powers that maintain spheres of influence in their region."

She highlighted that Europe's absence from the theoretical C5 would likely reinforce European concerns that "this administration views Russia as a leading power capable of exercising its sphere of influence in Europe."

Michael Sobolik, who served as an aide to Republican Senator Ted Cruz during Trump's first term, noted that establishing the C5 would represent a significant departure from Trump's previous China policy.

"The first Trump administration adhered to the concept of great power competition, and that's how we framed and discussed relations with China... This is just a huge departure from that," he remarked.

This development emerges as Washington debates how significantly Trump's second administration might reshape the global order.

The proposal suggests that existing forums like the G7 and G20 are inadequate for addressing challenges in a multipolar world and instead favors direct engagement among countries with substantial population sizes and military-economic power.

US allies are concerned this approach could legitimize "strongmen" by elevating Russia above European nations, potentially weakening Western unity and NATO's cohesion.