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On the very date Donald Trump was presented with a tailor-made "award for peace" from his recent friend, FIFA president "Gianni" Infantino, his government published an equally ostentatious national security strategy. This relatively brief report drips with pure Trump and Trumpism. It opens with the typically modest assertion 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 ongoing actions and rhetoric of Trump and his team, it must be taken as a serious caution for the world, and for Europe in particular.

A Strategy of Interference and Civilizational Fear

The document espouses an aggressive form of foreign-policy interference where the US explicitly sets the goal of "fostering European strength." Its rhetoric seems lifted directly from speeches by the Hungarian Prime Minister during the much-discussed refugee crisis of 2015-16: "Our desire is for Europe to remain European, to reclaim its civilizational self-confidence." Even more ominously, the document states that Europe's "economic decline is overshadowed by the genuine and starker prospect of civilizational erasure."

The entire section on Europe is imbued with decades of European right-wing ideology and rhetoric. The EU and its migration policies are held responsible for "transforming the continent and causing strife, suppression of free expression and suppression of political opposition, plummeting birthrates, and loss of national identities 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 economic power and militaries powerful enough to remain reliable allies." Indeed, the Trump administration believes that "within a few decades at the latest, some NATO members will become majority non-European."

"American diplomacy should continue to champion genuine democracy, free speech, and unapologetic celebrations of European nations’ unique heritage and history."

Foundational Theories of the Far Right

These points carry powerful echoes of two theories regarded as core for modern right-wing circles. The first is Oswald Spengler's "Der Untergang des Abendlandes," 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 "indigenous" fears into a more explicit conspiracy theory, accusing European elites of using immigration to replace rebellious "native" populations and import a more submissive and dependent electorate.

It is the nationalist fever dream encapsulated in both ideas that gives the Trump administration the right, if not the duty, to intervene in European affairs, the document implies. And it is evident where it sees its allies: "America urges its ideological partners in Europe to advance this resurgence of spirit, and the growing clout of nationalist European parties indeed gives cause for significant hope."

The Objective: "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 achieve this. Consequently, its "overarching strategy for Europe" focuses on "cultivating opposition 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 "aligned countries that want to reclaim their former greatness" – such as Hungary and Italy.

While the document remains unclear on methods, it is apparent that a key aim is to pressure Europe to adopt a radical policy on freedom of speech, more aligned with the US model – particularly regarding right-wing speech – and not limited to 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 clearly does not regard Russia as an adversary either.

An Ideological Blueprint: The Monroe Doctrine

In a wider context, the national security strategy draws its ideas 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 "Americas," which he declared 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 "recruiting" countries worldwide that wish to help safeguard US national interests.

None of this is entirely new – recall JD Vance’s address 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 published in an formal document, European leaders will at last understand that the stance is grave. And if the document is too long or vague for them, it can be summarised in plain and concise terms: the current US government holds that its national security is best served by the destruction of liberal democracy in Europe. To put it bluntly, the US is not just an reluctant ally; it is a willing adversary. It is time to respond appropriately.