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On the exact date Donald Trump received a custom-made "award for peace" from his newest friend, FIFA president "Gianni" Infantino, his government released an similarly flamboyant national security strategy. This relatively brief paper drips with pure Trump and Trumpism. It opens with the characteristically modest assertion that the president has rescued "the United States and the globe – back from the edge of catastrophe and disaster."

Even though the strategy mostly formalizes the ongoing policies and statements of Trump and his cabinet, it must be taken as a serious caution for the international community, and for the European continent in particular.

A Strategy of Intervention and Civilizational Fear

The document espouses an assertive form of foreign-policy meddling where the US explicitly sets the goal of "fostering European greatness." Its language could have been taken straight from addresses by Viktor Orbán during the so-called refugee crisis of 2015-16: "We want Europe to stay European, to reclaim its cultural self-confidence." Even more worryingly, the document states that Europe's "economic decline is overshadowed by the genuine and more stark prospect of cultural extinction."

The whole section on 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 strife, censorship of free speech and stifling of dissent, cratering birthrates, and loss of sovereign identity and self-confidence." According to the document, if "current trajectories continue, the continent will be unrecognisable in 20 years or less. As such, it is far from obvious whether some European countries will have economies and armed forces powerful enough to remain reliable allies." In fact, the Trump administration believes that "in a matter of years at the latest, certain NATO members will become predominantly non-European."

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

Foundational Ideas of the Right-Wing

These points carry powerful echoes of two theories 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 attack the "decadence" 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 "native" fears into a more overt conspiracy theory, alleging European elites of using immigration to replace restive "indigenous" populations and import a more docile and dependent electorate.

It is the nationalist fever dream encapsulated in both ideas that grants the Trump administration the authority, if not the duty, to interfere 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 influence of nationalist European parties indeed 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 only movement that can accomplish this. Consequently, its "broad policy for Europe" focuses on "fostering resistance to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations" – meaning the far right – and "building up the robust nations of central, eastern, and southern Europe" – in particular "nations in agreement that want to reclaim their former greatness" – such as Hungary and Italy.

While the document remains unclear on implementation, it is apparent that a priority is to pressure Europe to adopt a radical policy on freedom of speech, more aligned with the US model – particularly regarding far-right speech – and not limited to 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 enemy either.

A Historical 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. Proclaimed by President James Monroe, this cautioned 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 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 launched 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 realize that the stance is serious. And if the document is too long or imprecise 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 only an reluctant ally; it is a deliberate adversary. It is time to act appropriately.