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On the exact day Donald Trump was presented with a tailor-made "award for peace" from his newest friend, FIFA president "Gianni" Infantino, his government released an similarly flamboyant security policy document. This relatively brief paper drips with the essence of Trump and Trumpism. It opens with the typically modest claim that the president has brought back "the United States and the globe – back from the brink of catastrophe and disaster."

Even though the strategy largely codifies the current policies and statements of Trump and his team, it must be taken as a serious caution for the world, and for Europe specifically.

A Strategy of Intervention and Civilizational Anxiety

The document advocates for an aggressive form of foreign-policy interference where the US clearly sets the goal of "promoting European greatness." Its language seems taken directly 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 regain its cultural self-assurance." More worryingly, the document claims that Europe's "economic decline is overshadowed by the real and starker prospect of civilizational erasure."

The entire section dedicated to Europe is steeped in decades of European far-right ideology and propaganda. The EU and its migration policies are held responsible for "changing the continent and creating conflict, suppression of free speech and stifling of dissent, cratering birthrates, and loss of national identities and self-confidence." Per the document, if "current trajectories continue, the continent will be unrecognizable in 20 years or less. As such, it is far from obvious whether some European countries will have economies and armed forces strong enough to remain dependable allies." In fact, the Trump administration believes that "within a few decades at the latest, certain NATO members will become majority non-European."

"American diplomacy should continue to stand up for authentic democracy, freedom of expression, and proud commemorations of European nations’ individual character and past."

Foundational Theories of the Right-Wing

These points carry powerful overtones of two concepts 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 "weakness" 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 rebellious "indigenous" populations and bring in a more docile and dependent electorate.

It is the nationalist fever dream encapsulated in both ideas that grants the Trump administration the right, if not the duty, to interfere in European affairs, the document implies. And it is evident where it sees its allies: "America urges its ideological partners in Europe to promote this revival of national spirit, and the increasing clout of patriotic European parties in fact gives cause for significant hope."

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 accomplish this. Consequently, its "overarching strategy for Europe" focuses on "fostering resistance to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations" – meaning the far right – and "strengthening the robust nations of central, eastern, and southern Europe" – specifically "aligned countries that want to restore their past glory" – a clear reference to Hungary and Italy.

While the document remains unclear on implementation, it is apparent that a key aim is to pressure Europe to adopt a sweeping policy on freedom of speech, closer to the US model – especially regarding right-wing 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 directly called a future ally, the Trump administration clearly does not treat Russia as an adversary either.

An Ideological Blueprint: The Monroe Doctrine

In a broader sense, the national security strategy draws its ideas less from the idealized US of the 1950s and more from the 1823 policy 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 promises to "implement a Trump addition" to the Monroe Doctrine, which involves the US "recruiting" countries worldwide that wish to help protect US national interests.

None of this is entirely new – consider JD Vance’s speech at the 2025 Munich Security Conference, where the vice-president unleashed an ideological attack on Europe’s democratic model. But maybe now that it is published in an formal document, European leaders will at last understand that the stance is serious. And if the document is too long or imprecise for them, it can be condensed in plain 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 just an unwilling ally; it is a deliberate adversary. Now is time to respond accordingly.