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On the exact day Donald Trump was presented with a custom-made "peace prize" from his newest ally, FIFA president "Johnny" Infantino, his administration published an equally flamboyant national security strategy. This fairly brief paper drips with pure Trump and Trumpism. It opens with the typically modest assertion that the president has brought back "our nation – and the world – back from the edge of disaster and ruin."

Even though the document mostly codifies the ongoing policies and rhetoric of Trump and his cabinet, it must be taken as a grave caution for the world, and for the European continent specifically.

A Strategy of Intervention and Cultural Anxiety

The document espouses an aggressive form of foreign-policy meddling where the US explicitly sets the goal of "fostering European strength." Its language seems lifted directly from addresses by the Hungarian Prime Minister during the so-called refugee crisis of 2015-16: "We want Europe to stay European, to regain its civilizational self-confidence." Even more ominously, the document states that Europe's "economic decline is eclipsed by the genuine and more stark possibility of civilizational erasure."

The entire section on Europe is imbued with generations of European right-wing ideology and rhetoric. The EU and its migration policies are blamed for "changing the continent and creating strife, censorship of free speech and stifling of dissent, cratering 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 far from obvious whether some European countries will have economic power and armed forces strong enough to be reliable allies." In fact, the Trump administration believes that "within a few decades at the latest, some NATO members will become predominantly non-European."

"U.S. foreign policy should continue to stand up for genuine democracy, free speech, and unapologetic commemorations of European nations’ unique heritage and past."

Core Ideas of the Far Right

These arguments carry powerful echoes of two concepts seen as foundational for modern right-wing 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 "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 restive "native" 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 right, if not the obligation, to intervene in European affairs, the document suggests. And it is clear where it sees its allies: "America urges its political allies in Europe to promote this resurgence of spirit, and the growing clout of patriotic European parties in fact 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 "Restore European strength," and that the European far right is the only movement that can achieve this. Therefore, its "overarching strategy for Europe" prioritises "fostering resistance to Europe’s present path within European nations" – meaning the far right – and "strengthening the robust nations of central, eastern, and southern Europe" – in particular "nations in agreement that want to reclaim their former greatness" – such as Hungary and Italy.

While the document remains vague on implementation, it is obvious that a priority is to pressure Europe to adopt a radical policy on freedom of speech, more aligned with the US model – particularly 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 explicitly called a future ally, the Trump administration evidently does not treat Russia as an enemy either.

A Historical Precedent: The Monroe Doctrine

In a broader sense, the national security strategy draws its ideas less from the glorified 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 "Americas," which he proclaimed to be the US’s sphere of interest. The Trump administration’s policy document promises to "assert and enforce a Trump addition" to the Monroe Doctrine, which entails the US "recruiting" countries worldwide that wish to help safeguard US national interests.

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 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 lengthy or imprecise for them, it can be summarised in plain and concise 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 reluctant ally; it is a willing adversary. It is time to act accordingly.