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On the very day Donald Trump received a tailor-made "peace prize" from his newest friend, FIFA president "Gianni" Infantino, his government published an similarly flamboyant national security strategy. This fairly brief paper 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 brink of catastrophe and ruin."

Even though the document mostly formalizes the ongoing policies and statements of Trump and his team, it must be taken as a serious warning for the world, and for Europe specifically.

A Strategy of Intervention and Cultural Anxiety

The document advocates for an aggressive form of foreign-policy interference where the US clearly sets the goal of "fostering European greatness." Its language could have been taken straight from addresses by the Hungarian Prime Minister during the much-discussed migration emergency of 2015-16: "We want Europe to stay European, to regain its cultural self-assurance." More ominously, the document states that Europe's "economic decline is overshadowed by the genuine and starker possibility of civilizational erasure."

The entire section dedicated to Europe is imbued with decades of European far-right ideology and propaganda. The EU and its migration policies are held responsible for "transforming the continent and causing conflict, suppression of free speech and stifling of political opposition, plummeting birthrates, and loss of sovereign identity and self-confidence." Per 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 economies and armed forces powerful enough to be 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 genuine democracy, free speech, and proud celebrations of European nations’ individual character and past."

Core Ideas of the Right-Wing

These points carry powerful overtones of two concepts 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 criticise the "perversion" and "weakness" 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 overt conspiratorial narrative, alleging European elites of using immigration to replace rebellious "native" populations and import a more submissive and dependent electorate.

It is the nativist fever dream encapsulated in both ideas that grants the Trump administration the authority, if not the duty, to intervene in European affairs, the document implies. And it is evident where it identifies its allies: "The United States encourages its political allies in Europe to promote this revival of spirit, and the increasing clout of nationalist European parties in fact gives cause for significant hope."

The Goal: "Restore European Greatness"

Put simply, the US contends that it is essential to its national security to "Make Europe great again," and that the European far right is the sole political force that can achieve this. Consequently, its "broad policy for Europe" prioritises "cultivating resistance to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations" – understood as the far right – and "building up the healthy nations of central, eastern, and southern Europe" – in particular "aligned countries that want to reclaim their past glory" – such as Hungary and Italy.

While the document stays vague on implementation, it is obvious that a priority is to push Europe to adopt a radical policy on freedom of speech, closer to the US model – particularly regarding right-wing speech – and not just on 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 evidently does not treat Russia as an adversary 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 1823 policy of 1823. Proclaimed by President James Monroe, this warned European powers not to interfere in the "western hemisphere," which he declared to be the US’s sphere of interest. The Trump administration’s policy document promises to "implement a Trump addition" to the Monroe Doctrine, which involves the US "enlisting" 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 assault on Europe’s democratic model. But perhaps now that it is published in an official document, European leaders will at last understand that the situation is grave. And if the document is too long 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. Now is time to act appropriately.