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On the very date Donald Trump received a tailor-made "award for peace" from his recent friend, FIFA president "Gianni" Infantino, his government released an equally ostentatious national security strategy. This fairly short paper is saturated with the essence of Trump and Trumpism. It begins 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 mostly formalizes the ongoing policies and statements of Trump and his team, it must be taken as a grave warning for the world, and for the European continent specifically.

A Strategy of Intervention and Cultural Fear

The document espouses an assertive form of foreign-policy interference where the US explicitly sets the goal of "fostering European strength." Its rhetoric seems taken 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 regain its civilizational self-confidence." More worryingly, the document claims that Europe's "financial downturn is overshadowed by the genuine and more stark prospect of cultural extinction."

The whole section dedicated to Europe is steeped in decades of European right-wing dogma and rhetoric. The EU and its migration policies are blamed for "transforming the continent and causing conflict, suppression of free speech and stifling of dissent, plummeting birthrates, and erosion 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 certain European countries will have economic power and militaries powerful enough to remain dependable allies." Indeed, the Trump administration asserts that "in a matter of years at the latest, some NATO members will become majority non-European."

"U.S. foreign policy should continue to stand up for genuine democracy, free speech, and unapologetic celebrations of European nations’ individual character and history."

Core Theories of the Far Right

These arguments carry strong echoes of two concepts regarded as core for contemporary far-right circles. The first is Oswald Spengler's "The Decline of the West," whose thesis on the inevitable fall of civilizations was employed by the German far right to criticise the "decadence" and "weakness" 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 conspiracy theory, accusing European elites of using immigration to substitute rebellious "indigenous" populations and import 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 duty, to intervene in European affairs, the document implies. And it is clear where it sees its allies: "America encourages its ideological partners in Europe to advance this revival of national spirit, and the growing clout of nationalist European parties indeed gives cause for significant hope."

The Goal: "Make Europe Great Again"

Put simply, the US believes that it is essential to its national security to "Make Europe great again," and that the European far right is the sole movement that can accomplish this. Consequently, its "broad policy 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" – specifically "nations in agreement that want to restore their past glory" – such as Hungary and Italy.

While the document stays unclear on methods, it is apparent that a key aim is to push Europe to adopt a sweeping policy on freedom of speech, closer to the US model – especially regarding right-wing speech – and not just on 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 explicitly called a future ally, the Trump administration clearly does not treat Russia as an enemy either.

A Historical Precedent: The Monroe Doctrine

In a wider context, the national security strategy draws its ideas less from the glorified US of the 1950s and more from the Monroe Doctrine of 1823. Proclaimed by President James Monroe, this warned 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 promises to "implement a Trump corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine, which involves the US "enlisting" 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 assault on Europe’s democratic model. But maybe now that it is published in an official document, European leaders will finally realize that the situation is grave. And if the document is too lengthy 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 demise of liberal democracy in Europe. In other words, the US is not just an unwilling ally; it is a deliberate adversary. It is time to respond accordingly.