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On the exact day Donald Trump received a tailor-made "award for peace" from his recent friend, FIFA president "Gianni" Infantino, his government released an similarly ostentatious national security strategy. This fairly brief report drips with the essence of 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 brink of disaster and disaster."

Even though the strategy mostly formalizes the ongoing policies and rhetoric of Trump and his team, it must be taken as a serious caution for the world, and for Europe in particular.

A Blueprint of Intervention and Cultural Fear

The document advocates for an aggressive form of foreign-policy interference where the US clearly sets the goal of "promoting European strength." Its rhetoric seems taken directly from speeches by the Hungarian Prime Minister during the much-discussed refugee crisis of 2015-16: "Our desire is for Europe to stay European, to reclaim its cultural self-assurance." Even more ominously, the document states that Europe's "economic decline is overshadowed by the genuine and more stark possibility of cultural extinction."

The whole section dedicated to Europe is imbued with generations of European right-wing ideology and rhetoric. The EU and its migration policies are held responsible for "transforming the continent and causing conflict, censorship of free expression and stifling of dissent, cratering birthrates, and loss of national identities and self-belief." According to the document, if "current trajectories 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 armed forces strong enough to remain reliable allies." Indeed, the Trump administration asserts that "within a few decades at the latest, certain NATO members will become predominantly non-European."

"American diplomacy should continue to champion authentic democracy, free speech, and proud commemorations of European nations’ unique heritage and past."

Core Ideas of the Right-Wing

These arguments carry powerful echoes of two theories seen as foundational for modern far-right circles. The first is Oswald Spengler's "Der Untergang des Abendlandes," whose argument on the cyclical decline of civilizations was used by the German far right to attack the "perversion" and "enfeeblement" of the democratic Weimar Republic. The second is "The Great Replacement," published in 2011 by French novelist Renaud Camus, who translated long-existing "native" fears into a more overt conspiracy theory, alleging European elites of using immigration to replace rebellious "indigenous" populations and import a more docile 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 interfere in European affairs, the document implies. And it is evident where it sees its allies: "The United States urges its ideological partners in Europe to promote this resurgence of spirit, and the increasing clout of nationalist European parties indeed gives cause for great optimism."

The Goal: "Restore European Greatness"

In other words, 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" focuses on "cultivating opposition to Europe’s present path 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" – a clear reference to Hungary and Italy.

While the document remains unclear on methods, it is apparent that a priority is to pressure Europe to adopt a radical policy on freedom of speech, closer to the US model – especially 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 directly called a future ally, the Trump administration evidently does not regard Russia as an enemy either.

An Ideological 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. Articulated by President James Monroe, this warned European powers not to meddle in the "Americas," which he proclaimed 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 entails 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 laid out in an formal 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 concise terms: the current US government believes that its national security is most enhanced by the destruction of liberal democracy in Europe. To put it bluntly, the US is not only an unwilling ally; it is a willing adversary. Now is time to act accordingly.