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On the very date Donald Trump received a custom-made "peace prize" from his newest ally, FIFA president "Johnny" Infantino, his government released an equally ostentatious national security strategy. This relatively short paper drips with pure Trump and Trumpism. It opens with the characteristically humble assertion that the president has rescued "our nation – and the world – back from the edge of catastrophe and ruin."

Even though the document mostly formalizes the current policies and rhetoric of Trump and his cabinet, it must be taken as a serious warning for the world, and for Europe in particular.

A Strategy of Intervention and Civilizational Fear

The document espouses an aggressive form of foreign-policy interference where the US clearly sets the goal of "fostering European greatness." Its rhetoric seems lifted straight from speeches by the Hungarian Prime Minister during the much-discussed migration emergency of 2015-16: "Our desire is for Europe to remain European, to reclaim its civilizational self-confidence." Even more ominously, the document claims that Europe's "economic decline is eclipsed by the real and starker prospect of cultural extinction."

The whole section dedicated to Europe is steeped in decades of European far-right dogma and rhetoric. The EU and its migration policies are held responsible for "transforming the continent and causing conflict, censorship of free expression and suppression of dissent, plummeting birthrates, and loss of sovereign identity and self-belief." According to the document, if "present trends continue, the continent will be unrecognisable in 20 years or less. As such, it is not at all clear whether certain European countries will have economies and armed forces strong enough to be reliable allies." Indeed, the Trump administration believes that "in a matter of years at the latest, certain NATO members will become majority non-European."

"American diplomacy should continue to champion authentic democracy, free speech, and unapologetic commemorations of European nations’ unique heritage and past."

Core Theories of the Far Right

These points carry strong echoes of two concepts seen as core for contemporary right-wing circles. The first is Oswald Spengler's "Der Untergang des Abendlandes," whose thesis on the cyclical decline of civilizations was employed by the German far right to criticise the "perversion" and "enfeeblement" of the democratic Weimar Republic. The second is "Le Grand Remplacement," released in 2011 by French novelist Renaud Camus, who transformed long-existing "native" fears into a more explicit conspiratorial narrative, accusing European elites of using immigration to substitute rebellious "native" populations and bring in a more docile and dependent electorate.

It is the nativist fantasy contained in both ideas that grants the Trump administration the authority, if not the duty, to interfere in European affairs, the document suggests. And it is clear where it sees its allies: "The United States encourages its political allies in Europe to promote this revival of national spirit, and the growing influence of patriotic European parties in fact gives cause for great optimism."

The Goal: "Make Europe Great Again"

Put simply, the US believes that it is key to its national security to "Restore European strength," and that the European far right is the only political force that can achieve this. Consequently, its "broad policy for Europe" prioritises "cultivating opposition to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations" – understood as the far right – and "strengthening the robust nations of central, eastern, and southern Europe" – specifically "aligned countries that want to restore their former greatness" – such as Hungary and Italy.

While the document remains unclear on implementation, it is obvious that a key aim is to pressure Europe to adopt a sweeping policy on freedom of speech, closer to the US model – especially regarding right-wing speech – and not limited to social media. Another is to normalise relations with Russia; or, as the document phrases it, to "reestablish strategic stability with Russia." Although the country is not directly called a future ally, the Trump administration clearly does not treat Russia as an adversary either.

An Ideological Blueprint: The Monroe Doctrine

In a wider context, the national security strategy takes its inspiration less from the idealized US of the 1950s and more from the 1823 policy of 1823. Articulated by President James Monroe, this cautioned European powers not to interfere in the "western hemisphere," which he declared to be the US’s zone of influence. The Trump administration’s policy document vows to "implement a Trump corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine, which involves the US "enlisting" countries worldwide that wish to help protect US national interests.

None of this is necessarily new – recall JD Vance’s address at the 2025 Munich Security Conference, where the vice-president launched an ideological attack on Europe’s democratic model. But maybe now that it is laid out in an official document, European leaders will at last realize that the stance is grave. And if the document is too lengthy or vague for them, it can be condensed in clear and succinct terms: the current US government holds that its national security is best served by the demise of liberal democracy in Europe. To put it bluntly, the US is not just an reluctant ally; it is a willing adversary. It is time to respond appropriately.