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On the very date Donald Trump was presented with a custom-made "award for peace" from his newest friend, FIFA president "Johnny" Infantino, his government released an equally flamboyant national security strategy. This fairly short paper is saturated with pure Trump and Trumpism. It begins with the characteristically modest claim that the president has rescued "our nation – and the world – back from the brink of catastrophe and disaster."

Even though the document mostly codifies the ongoing actions and rhetoric of Trump and his cabinet, it must be heeded as a serious warning for the world, and for Europe specifically.

A Blueprint of Interference and Civilizational Anxiety

The document espouses an assertive form of foreign-policy meddling where the US clearly sets the goal of "promoting European strength." Its language seems taken directly from speeches by Viktor Orbán during the much-discussed migration emergency of 2015-16: "Our desire is for Europe to stay European, to reclaim its cultural self-assurance." More ominously, the document claims that Europe's "financial downturn is overshadowed by the real and starker possibility of civilizational erasure."

The whole section on Europe is imbued with decades of European far-right ideology and propaganda. The EU and its migration policies are blamed for "changing the continent and causing strife, censorship of free expression and stifling of political opposition, plummeting birthrates, and erosion of national identities and self-confidence." According to the document, if "current trajectories continue, the continent will be unrecognizable in 20 years or less. As such, it is not at all clear whether some European countries will have economic power and militaries powerful enough to remain reliable allies." In fact, the Trump administration believes that "within a few decades at the latest, certain NATO members will become majority non-European."

"American diplomacy should continue to champion genuine democracy, free speech, and proud celebrations of European nations’ individual character and history."

Foundational Ideas of the Right-Wing

These points carry strong overtones of two theories regarded as core for modern right-wing circles. The first is Oswald Spengler's "The Decline of the West," whose thesis on the cyclical decline of civilizations was used by the German far right to attack the "perversion" and "enfeeblement" of the democratic Weimar Republic. The second is "The Great Replacement," released in 2011 by French novelist Renaud Camus, who transformed long-existing "indigenous" fears into a more explicit conspiratorial narrative, accusing European elites of using immigration to replace rebellious "native" populations and bring in a more submissive and dependent electorate.

It is the nativist fever dream encapsulated in both ideas that gives the Trump administration the right, if not the obligation, to intervene in European affairs, the document suggests. And it is evident where it sees its allies: "The United States urges its political allies in Europe to advance this resurgence of spirit, and the increasing influence of patriotic European parties indeed gives cause for great optimism."

The Goal: "Restore European Greatness"

Put simply, the US contends that it is key to its national security to "Make Europe great again," and that the European far right is the sole movement that can accomplish this. Consequently, its "overarching strategy for Europe" prioritises "cultivating opposition to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations" – meaning the far right – and "strengthening the healthy nations of central, eastern, and southern Europe" – in particular "nations in agreement 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 – particularly regarding far-right speech – and not just on social media. Another is to normalise relations with Russia; or, as the document calls it, to "reestablish strategic stability with Russia." Although the country is not explicitly called a future ally, the Trump administration evidently does not treat Russia as an adversary either.

An Ideological Blueprint: The Monroe Doctrine

In a broader sense, 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 warned European powers not to interfere in the "Americas," which he declared to be the US’s zone of influence. The Trump administration’s policy document promises to "implement a Trump addition" to the Monroe Doctrine, which entails the US "recruiting" countries worldwide that wish to help protect US national interests.

None of this is entirely new – consider JD Vance’s address at the 2025 Munich Security Conference, where the vice-president unleashed an ideological attack on Europe’s democratic model. But perhaps now that it is laid out in an formal document, European leaders will at last realize that the situation is serious. And if the document is too long or vague for them, it can be condensed in plain and succinct terms: the current US government believes that its national security is best served by the destruction of liberal democracy in Europe. To put it bluntly, the US is not just an reluctant ally; it is a deliberate adversary. It is time to respond appropriately.