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On the exact day Donald Trump received a tailor-made "award for peace" from his newest ally, FIFA president "Gianni" Infantino, his government published an similarly flamboyant national security strategy. This fairly short report is saturated with the essence of Trump and Trumpism. It opens with the characteristically humble assertion that the president has brought back "the United States and the globe – back from the edge of disaster and disaster."

Even though the document mostly codifies the current policies and statements of Trump and his cabinet, it must be heeded as a grave caution for the international community, and for Europe in particular.

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 could have been lifted directly from addresses by Viktor Orbán during the much-discussed refugee crisis of 2015-16: "Our desire is for Europe to remain European, to regain its civilizational self-assurance." Even more worryingly, the document states that Europe's "financial downturn is eclipsed by the genuine and more stark prospect of civilizational erasure."

The whole section on Europe is steeped in decades of European far-right ideology and rhetoric. The EU and its migration policies are blamed for "changing the continent and causing conflict, censorship of free speech and suppression of political opposition, cratering birthrates, and loss of sovereign identity and self-belief." According to the document, if "present trends continue, the continent will be unrecognizable in 20 years or less. As such, it is far from obvious whether certain European countries will have economies and armed forces powerful enough to be dependable allies." Indeed, the Trump administration asserts that "in a matter of years at the latest, some NATO members will become predominantly non-European."

"U.S. foreign policy should continue to stand up for genuine democracy, free speech, and proud commemorations of European nations’ individual character and history."

Core Theories of the Right-Wing

These points carry powerful overtones of two concepts regarded as foundational for modern far-right circles. The first is Oswald Spengler's "Der Untergang des Abendlandes," whose argument on the inevitable fall of civilizations was employed by the German far right to attack the "decadence" and "weakness" of the democratic Weimar Republic. The second is "Le Grand Remplacement," published in 2011 by French novelist Renaud Camus, who transformed long-existing "native" fears into a more overt conspiracy theory, alleging European elites of using immigration to substitute rebellious "indigenous" populations and bring in a more submissive and dependent electorate.

It is the nationalist fantasy contained in both ideas that gives the Trump administration the authority, if not the duty, to intervene in European affairs, the document implies. And it is clear where it sees its allies: "America encourages its ideological partners in Europe to advance this revival of spirit, and the growing clout of nationalist European parties in fact gives cause for significant hope."

The Objective: "Make Europe Great Again"

In other words, the US believes that it is essential to its national security to "Make Europe great again," and that the European far right is the sole movement that can accomplish this. Therefore, its "overarching strategy for Europe" prioritises "cultivating opposition to Europe’s present path within European nations" – understood as the far right – and "building up the robust nations of central, eastern, and southern Europe" – specifically "aligned countries that want to restore their past glory" – such as Hungary and Italy.

While the document stays vague on implementation, it is obvious that a key aim is to push Europe to adopt a sweeping policy on freedom of speech, more aligned with the US model – especially regarding far-right speech – and not just on social media. Another is to normalise relations with Russia; or, as the document phrases it, to "restore strategic stability with Russia." Although the country is not directly called a future ally, the Trump administration evidently does not regard Russia as an enemy either.

A Historical Precedent: 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 Monroe Doctrine of 1823. Proclaimed by President James Monroe, this cautioned European powers not to meddle in the "western hemisphere," which he declared to be the US’s sphere of interest. The Trump administration’s policy document vows to "implement a Trump addition" to the Monroe Doctrine, which entails the US "recruiting" countries worldwide that wish to help protect US national interests.

This is necessarily new – recall JD Vance’s speech 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 official document, European leaders will finally realize that the stance is grave. And if the document is too long or imprecise for them, it can be condensed in plain and concise terms: the current US government believes that its national security is most enhanced by the demise of liberal democracy in Europe. To put it bluntly, the US is not only an unwilling ally; it is a deliberate adversary. It is time to act appropriately.