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On the very day Donald Trump was presented with a tailor-made "award for peace" from his recent friend, FIFA president "Gianni" Infantino, his administration released an similarly flamboyant national security strategy. This relatively brief paper is saturated with pure Trump and Trumpism. It opens with the characteristically modest claim that the president has brought back "the United States and the globe – back from the edge of catastrophe and ruin."

Even though the strategy mostly codifies the current policies and statements of Trump and his team, it must be heeded as a grave caution for the world, and for Europe in particular.

A Strategy of Intervention and Civilizational Fear

The document espouses an assertive form of foreign-policy meddling where the US clearly sets the goal of "fostering European strength." Its language seems lifted straight from addresses by the Hungarian Prime Minister during the so-called refugee crisis of 2015-16: "Our desire is for Europe to stay European, to reclaim its civilizational self-assurance." More ominously, the document states that Europe's "economic decline is eclipsed by the genuine and starker prospect of cultural extinction."

The whole section dedicated to Europe is imbued with generations of European right-wing dogma and propaganda. The EU and its migration policies are blamed for "changing the continent and creating conflict, censorship of free expression and suppression of political opposition, plummeting birthrates, and erosion of sovereign identity and self-confidence." According to the document, if "present trends continue, the continent will be unrecognizable in 20 years or less. As such, it is not at all clear whether certain European countries will have economic power and armed forces powerful enough to be reliable allies." In fact, the Trump administration asserts that "in a matter of years at the latest, certain NATO members will become predominantly non-European."

"American diplomacy should continue to stand up for genuine democracy, freedom of expression, and proud commemorations of European nations’ individual character and history."

Foundational Ideas of the Right-Wing

These points carry powerful echoes of two concepts seen as core for modern far-right circles. The first is Oswald Spengler's "The Decline of the West," whose argument 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, alleging European elites of using immigration to replace rebellious "native" populations and bring in a more submissive and reliant electorate.

It is the nationalist 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 clear where it identifies its allies: "America encourages its political allies in Europe to promote this revival of national spirit, and the increasing influence of nationalist European parties in fact gives cause for significant hope."

The Goal: "Make Europe Great Again"

Put simply, the US contends 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 accomplish 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 reclaim their past glory" – a clear reference to Hungary and Italy.

While the document stays vague on methods, it is obvious that a priority is to pressure 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 normalize 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 clearly does not treat Russia as an adversary either.

An Ideological Blueprint: 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 Monroe Doctrine of 1823. Proclaimed by President James Monroe, this cautioned European powers not to meddle in the "Americas," 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 entails the US "enlisting" 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 maybe now that it is laid out in an official document, European leaders will finally understand that the situation is grave. And if the document is too lengthy or imprecise 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 only an reluctant ally; it is a deliberate adversary. Now is time to act accordingly.