🔗 Share this article

On the very day Donald Trump received a tailor-made "peace prize" from his recent ally, FIFA president "Johnny" Infantino, his government published an similarly flamboyant security policy document. This fairly short paper drips with pure Trump and Trumpism. It opens with the characteristically humble claim that the president has rescued "our nation – and the world – back from the edge of catastrophe and disaster."

Even though the strategy mostly codifies the current policies and rhetoric of Trump and his team, it must be heeded as a grave caution for the international community, and for the European continent in particular.

A Blueprint of Intervention and Cultural Anxiety

The document espouses an aggressive form of foreign-policy interference where the US explicitly sets the goal of "fostering European greatness." Its rhetoric could have been taken directly from addresses by Viktor Orbán during the much-discussed refugee crisis of 2015-16: "Our desire is for Europe to stay European, to regain its civilizational self-assurance." More worryingly, the document claims that Europe's "economic decline is eclipsed by the real and starker possibility of civilizational erasure."

The entire section on Europe is steeped in decades of European far-right dogma and propaganda. The EU and its migration policies are held responsible for "changing the continent and creating conflict, censorship of free speech and suppression of dissent, plummeting birthrates, and loss of sovereign identity and self-confidence." Per the document, if "current trajectories continue, the continent will be unrecognisable in 20 years or less. As such, it is far from obvious whether some European countries will have economic power and militaries powerful enough to be dependable allies." Indeed, the Trump administration asserts that "in a matter of years at the latest, certain NATO members will become majority non-European."

"U.S. foreign policy should continue to stand up for genuine democracy, freedom of expression, and proud celebrations of European nations’ individual character and past."

Core Theories of the Far Right

These arguments carry strong overtones of two theories regarded as foundational for contemporary far-right circles. The first is Oswald Spengler's "Der Untergang des Abendlandes," whose thesis on the cyclical decline of civilizations was used by the German far right to criticise the "decadence" and "enfeeblement" of the democratic Weimar Republic. The second is "Le Grand Remplacement," published in 2011 by French novelist Renaud Camus, who transformed long-existing "native" fears into a more overt conspiracy theory, alleging European elites of using immigration to substitute restive "indigenous" populations and bring in a more docile and dependent electorate.

It is the nativist fever dream encapsulated in both ideas that grants the Trump administration the right, if not the obligation, 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 influence of nationalist European parties indeed gives cause for great optimism."

The Objective: "Make Europe Great Again"

Put simply, the US contends that it is essential to its national security to "Restore European strength," and that the European far right is the only political force that can achieve this. Consequently, its "broad policy for Europe" prioritises "cultivating opposition to Europe’s present path within European nations" – understood as the far right – and "strengthening the robust nations of central, eastern, and southern Europe" – in particular "aligned countries 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 pressure Europe to adopt a radical 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 calls 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 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 warned European powers not to interfere in the "western hemisphere," which he declared to be the US’s zone of influence. The Trump administration’s policy document promises to "implement a Trump addition" 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 speech at the 2025 Munich Security Conference, where the vice-president unleashed an ideological attack on Europe’s democratic model. But perhaps now that it is laid out in an official document, European leaders will finally realize that the situation is serious. 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.