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On the exact date Donald Trump was presented with a tailor-made "award for peace" from his newest friend, FIFA president "Johnny" Infantino, his government released an similarly ostentatious national security strategy. This fairly short paper is saturated with the essence of 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 disaster and ruin."

Even though the strategy largely formalizes the current policies and rhetoric of Trump and his team, it must be taken as a grave warning for the international community, and for Europe in particular.

A Blueprint of Interference and Civilizational Anxiety

The document advocates for an aggressive form of foreign-policy interference where the US explicitly sets the goal of "promoting European greatness." Its language could have been lifted straight from addresses by the Hungarian Prime Minister during the much-discussed migration emergency of 2015-16: "Our desire is for Europe to remain European, to reclaim its civilizational self-confidence." More ominously, the document states that Europe's "financial downturn is overshadowed by the genuine and more stark possibility of cultural extinction."

The whole section on Europe is imbued with generations of European right-wing ideology and propaganda. The EU and its migration policies are held responsible for "changing the continent and causing strife, suppression of free expression and stifling of dissent, plummeting birthrates, and loss of national identities and self-belief." Per 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 certain European countries will have economic power and armed forces strong enough to remain reliable allies." In fact, the Trump administration asserts that "in a matter of years at the latest, certain NATO members will become majority non-European."

"American diplomacy should continue to champion authentic democracy, free speech, and unapologetic commemorations of European nations’ individual character and past."

Foundational Ideas of the Right-Wing

These points carry powerful overtones of two theories regarded as core for modern far-right circles. The first is Oswald Spengler's "The Decline of the West," whose thesis 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," published in 2011 by French novelist Renaud Camus, who translated long-existing "indigenous" fears into a more overt conspiratorial narrative, alleging European elites of using immigration to replace restive "indigenous" populations and bring in a more docile and dependent electorate.

It is the nationalist fever dream encapsulated in both ideas that gives the Trump administration the authority, if not the duty, to intervene in European affairs, the document suggests. And it is evident where it sees its allies: "America urges its political allies in Europe to advance this revival of national spirit, and the growing clout of nationalist European parties in fact gives cause for great optimism."

The Objective: "Make Europe Great Again"

In other words, the US believes that it is essential to its national security to "Restore European strength," and that the European far right is the sole political force that can achieve this. Consequently, its "broad policy for Europe" focuses on "fostering opposition to Europe’s present path within European nations" – understood as the far right – and "building up the robust nations of central, eastern, and southern Europe" – specifically "nations in agreement that want to reclaim their past glory" – a clear reference to Hungary and Italy.

While the document remains vague on implementation, it is obvious that a key aim is to push Europe to adopt a sweeping 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 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 evidently does not regard 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 glorified US of the 1950s and more from the Monroe Doctrine of 1823. Articulated by President James Monroe, this cautioned European powers not to interfere in the "western hemisphere," which he proclaimed to be the US’s sphere of interest. The Trump administration’s policy document promises to "assert and enforce a Trump addition" to the Monroe Doctrine, which entails the US "enlisting" countries worldwide that wish to help safeguard US national interests.

None of this is entirely 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 serious. And if the document is too long or imprecise for them, it can be condensed in clear and concise terms: the current US government holds that its national security is most enhanced by the demise of liberal democracy in Europe. To put it bluntly, the US is not just an reluctant ally; it is a deliberate adversary. Now is time to act accordingly.