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On the very date Donald Trump was presented with a tailor-made "peace prize" from his newest ally, FIFA president "Gianni" Infantino, his administration published an similarly flamboyant national security strategy. This relatively brief paper is saturated with the essence of Trump and Trumpism. It opens with the typically humble assertion that the president has rescued "the United States and the globe – back from the edge of catastrophe and ruin."

Even though the strategy mostly codifies the current policies and statements of Trump and his team, it must be heeded as a serious warning for the international community, and for Europe in particular.

A Strategy of Interference and Civilizational Anxiety

The document espouses an aggressive form of foreign-policy meddling where the US clearly sets the goal of "promoting European greatness." Its language could have been taken directly from addresses by the Hungarian Prime Minister during the so-called refugee crisis of 2015-16: "Our desire is for Europe to stay European, to reclaim its cultural self-confidence." More ominously, the document claims that Europe's "financial downturn is eclipsed by the genuine and more stark prospect of cultural extinction."

The whole section on Europe is imbued with generations of European far-right 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 political opposition, plummeting birthrates, and erosion of national identities and self-belief." According to the document, if "present trends 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 economies and militaries strong enough to remain dependable allies." In fact, the Trump administration believes that "in a matter of years at the latest, certain NATO members will become majority non-European."

"U.S. foreign policy should continue to champion genuine democracy, freedom of expression, and unapologetic commemorations of European nations’ individual character and past."

Core Ideas of the Right-Wing

These points carry strong echoes of two concepts seen as foundational for modern right-wing circles. The first is Oswald Spengler's "The Decline of the West," whose thesis on the cyclical decline of civilizations was used by the German far right to attack the "perversion" and "weakness" of the democratic Weimar Republic. The second is "Le Grand Remplacement," released in 2011 by French novelist Renaud Camus, who transformed long-existing "indigenous" fears into a more overt conspiratorial narrative, alleging European elites of using immigration to replace rebellious "indigenous" populations and import a more submissive and dependent electorate.

It is the nationalist fever dream contained in both ideas that gives the Trump administration the authority, if not the duty, to interfere in European affairs, the document suggests. And it is evident where it identifies its allies: "America urges its ideological partners in Europe to promote this revival of spirit, and the increasing influence of nationalist European parties indeed gives cause for great optimism."

The Goal: "Make Europe Great Again"

In other words, the US contends 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 "cultivating 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" – a clear reference to Hungary and Italy.

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

A Historical 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. Articulated by President James Monroe, this cautioned European powers not to meddle in the "western hemisphere," which he proclaimed to be the US’s zone of influence. The Trump administration’s policy document vows to "implement a Trump addition" to the Monroe Doctrine, which involves the US "recruiting" countries worldwide that wish to help protect US national interests.

This is necessarily new – recall JD Vance’s address at the 2025 Munich Security Conference, where the vice-president launched an assault on Europe’s democratic model. But maybe now that it is laid out in an official 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 summarised in clear and succinct 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 unwilling ally; it is a deliberate adversary. It is time to act appropriately.