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On the very date Donald Trump received a custom-made "award for peace" from his newest friend, FIFA president "Gianni" Infantino, his government published an equally ostentatious national security strategy. This relatively brief report is saturated with pure Trump and Trumpism. It opens with the typically modest claim that the president has brought back "our nation – and the world – back from the brink of catastrophe and ruin."

Even though the document largely codifies the current actions and rhetoric of Trump and his team, it must be heeded as a serious warning for the world, and for the European continent in particular.

A Strategy of Intervention and Civilizational Anxiety

The document advocates for an assertive form of foreign-policy interference where the US clearly sets the goal of "promoting European greatness." Its rhetoric seems lifted straight from addresses 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 worryingly, the document claims that Europe's "economic decline is overshadowed by the genuine and starker possibility of cultural extinction."

The entire section on Europe is steeped in decades of European right-wing ideology and rhetoric. The EU and its migration policies are held responsible for "transforming the continent and creating conflict, suppression of free speech and stifling of political opposition, plummeting birthrates, and erosion of sovereign identity 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 not at all clear whether some European countries will have economies and armed forces powerful enough to remain reliable allies." In fact, the Trump administration asserts that "within a few decades at the latest, some NATO members will become predominantly non-European."

"U.S. foreign policy should continue to champion genuine democracy, freedom of expression, and unapologetic commemorations of European nations’ unique heritage and history."

Foundational Ideas of the Right-Wing

These points carry strong overtones of two concepts seen as foundational for modern right-wing 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 "Le Grand Remplacement," released in 2011 by French novelist Renaud Camus, who transformed long-existing "native" fears into a more overt conspiratorial narrative, alleging European elites of using immigration to replace restive "indigenous" populations and import a more docile and reliant electorate.

It is the nativist fantasy 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 clear where it sees its allies: "America urges its ideological partners in Europe to promote this resurgence of spirit, and the growing influence of patriotic European parties in fact gives cause for significant hope."

The Objective: "Restore European Greatness"

Put simply, 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 movement that can achieve this. Therefore, its "overarching strategy for Europe" prioritises "fostering resistance 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" – in particular "nations in agreement that want to restore their former greatness" – a clear reference to Hungary and Italy.

While the document stays vague on implementation, it is obvious that a key aim is to push Europe to adopt a sweeping policy on freedom of speech, closer to 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 "reestablish strategic stability with Russia." Although the country is not explicitly called a future ally, the Trump administration clearly does not regard Russia as an adversary either.

An Ideological Blueprint: 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 Monroe Doctrine of 1823. Proclaimed by President James Monroe, this warned 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 "assert and enforce a Trump corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine, which involves the US "enlisting" countries worldwide that wish to help protect US national interests.

This is necessarily new – consider JD Vance’s address at the 2025 Munich Security Conference, where the vice-president launched an ideological attack on Europe’s democratic model. But perhaps now that it is published in an formal document, European leaders will at last understand that the stance is grave. And if the document is too long or vague for them, it can be summarised in plain and concise 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 only an reluctant ally; it is a willing adversary. It is time to act accordingly.