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On the very day Donald Trump received a custom-made "award for peace" from his newest ally, FIFA president "Gianni" Infantino, his government published an equally ostentatious national security strategy. This fairly brief paper is saturated with pure Trump and Trumpism. It begins with the characteristically humble assertion that the president has brought back "our nation – and the world – back from the edge of catastrophe and disaster."

Even though the strategy mostly codifies the ongoing actions and rhetoric of Trump and his team, it must be heeded as a grave warning for the international community, and for Europe in particular.

A Strategy of Interference and Civilizational Anxiety

The document advocates for an aggressive form of foreign-policy interference where the US explicitly sets the goal of "promoting European strength." Its rhetoric seems lifted straight from speeches by the Hungarian Prime Minister during the so-called refugee crisis of 2015-16: "We want Europe to stay European, to regain its civilizational self-confidence." Even more worryingly, the document claims that Europe's "economic decline is eclipsed by the real and starker prospect of civilizational erasure."

The entire section on Europe is steeped in generations of European right-wing dogma and rhetoric. The EU and its migration policies are held responsible for "changing the continent and causing strife, censorship of free expression and stifling of political opposition, cratering birthrates, and loss of national identities and self-belief." Per the document, if "current trajectories continue, the continent will be unrecognisable in 20 years or less. As such, it is not at all clear whether some European countries will have economies and armed forces 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."

"U.S. foreign policy should continue to champion authentic democracy, freedom of expression, and unapologetic celebrations of European nations’ unique heritage and history."

Core Theories of the Right-Wing

These points carry powerful echoes of two concepts seen as core for modern right-wing circles. The first is Oswald Spengler's "The Decline of the West," whose thesis on the inevitable fall of civilizations was used by the German far right to criticise the "decadence" 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, alleging European elites of using immigration to substitute restive "indigenous" populations and bring in a more submissive and reliant electorate.

It is the nativist fantasy encapsulated in both ideas that grants the Trump administration the authority, if not the obligation, to intervene in European affairs, the document suggests. And it is evident where it identifies its allies: "America urges its ideological partners in Europe to advance this revival of national spirit, and the increasing influence of patriotic European parties in fact gives cause for significant hope."

The Goal: "Make Europe Great Again"

In other words, the US believes that it is essential to its national security to "Restore European strength," and that the European far right is the only movement that can accomplish this. Consequently, its "broad policy for Europe" focuses on "fostering opposition to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations" – meaning the far right – and "building up the robust nations of central, eastern, and southern Europe" – specifically "aligned countries that want to reclaim their former greatness" – such as Hungary and Italy.

While the document remains unclear on implementation, it is obvious that a priority is to pressure Europe to adopt a radical policy on freedom of speech, more aligned with the US model – particularly regarding right-wing speech – and not just on social media. Another is to normalize relations with Russia; or, as the document calls it, to "restore strategic stability with Russia." Although the country is not explicitly called a future ally, the Trump administration clearly does not treat Russia as an adversary either.

A Historical Precedent: The Monroe Doctrine

In a broader sense, the national security strategy draws its ideas less from the glorified US of the 1950s and more from the 1823 policy of 1823. Proclaimed by President James Monroe, this cautioned European powers not to meddle in the "western hemisphere," which he proclaimed to be the US’s zone of influence. The Trump administration’s policy document vows to "assert and enforce a Trump corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine, which entails the US "recruiting" countries worldwide that wish to help safeguard US national interests.

None of this is necessarily new – consider JD Vance’s speech at the 2025 Munich Security Conference, where the vice-president unleashed an ideological attack on Europe’s democratic model. But maybe now that it is laid out in an formal document, European leaders will at last understand that the stance is grave. And if the document is too lengthy or imprecise for them, it can be summarised in plain and concise terms: the current US government believes that its national security is best served by the demise of liberal democracy in Europe. In other words, the US is not only an reluctant ally; it is a deliberate adversary. Now is time to respond appropriately.