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On the very day Donald Trump was presented with a custom-made "award for peace" from his newest ally, FIFA president "Johnny" Infantino, his government released an similarly flamboyant national security strategy. This fairly short paper drips with pure Trump and Trumpism. It opens with the typically 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 largely formalizes the current actions and rhetoric of Trump and his team, it must be heeded as a serious warning for the international community, and for Europe in particular.

A Blueprint of Interference and Cultural Fear

The document advocates for an aggressive form of foreign-policy meddling where the US clearly sets the goal of "promoting European strength." Its language could have been taken straight from speeches by Viktor Orbán during the so-called refugee crisis of 2015-16: "Our desire is for Europe to stay European, to reclaim its civilizational self-confidence." Even more ominously, the document states that Europe's "financial downturn is eclipsed by the real and more stark prospect of civilizational erasure."

The whole section dedicated to Europe is imbued with decades of European right-wing ideology and rhetoric. The EU and its migration policies are blamed for "changing the continent and creating conflict, censorship of free expression and stifling of dissent, cratering birthrates, and loss of sovereign identity and self-belief." According to 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 economic power and militaries powerful enough to be dependable 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 champion authentic democracy, free speech, and unapologetic commemorations of European nations’ unique heritage and history."

Core Theories of the Far Right

These arguments carry strong overtones of two theories seen as core for contemporary right-wing circles. The first is Oswald Spengler's "Der Untergang des Abendlandes," whose argument on the inevitable fall of civilizations was used by the German far right to attack the "decadence" and "enfeeblement" of the democratic Weimar Republic. The second is "The Great Replacement," published in 2011 by French novelist Renaud Camus, who transformed long-existing "indigenous" fears into a more overt conspiratorial narrative, accusing European elites of using immigration to substitute rebellious "indigenous" populations and bring in a more docile and dependent electorate.

It is the nationalist fantasy encapsulated in both ideas that grants the Trump administration the right, if not the obligation, to intervene in European affairs, the document suggests. And it is evident where it sees its allies: "America encourages its ideological partners in Europe to promote this revival of national spirit, and the increasing influence of patriotic European parties in fact gives cause for great optimism."

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 accomplish this. Consequently, its "overarching strategy for Europe" prioritises "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 past glory" – a clear reference to Hungary and Italy.

While the document stays vague on implementation, it is apparent that a priority is to pressure Europe to adopt a sweeping policy on freedom of speech, closer to the US model – particularly regarding far-right speech – and not limited to 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 regard Russia as an enemy either.

An Ideological Blueprint: The Monroe Doctrine

In a broader sense, the national security strategy takes its inspiration less from the glorified US of the 1950s and more from the Monroe Doctrine of 1823. Articulated by President James Monroe, this warned European powers not to interfere 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 addition" to the Monroe Doctrine, which involves the US "enlisting" countries worldwide that wish to help protect US national interests.

None of this is necessarily 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 stance is grave. And if the document is too lengthy or imprecise for them, it can be condensed in plain and concise terms: the current US government holds that its national security is most enhanced by the destruction of liberal democracy in Europe. In other words, the US is not only an reluctant ally; it is a willing adversary. It is time to act accordingly.