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On the exact date Donald Trump was presented with a tailor-made "peace prize" from his recent ally, FIFA president "Johnny" Infantino, his government released an equally ostentatious national security strategy. This relatively short paper drips with pure Trump and Trumpism. It opens with the typically humble claim that the president has rescued "our nation – and the world – back from the brink of disaster and ruin."

Even though the document mostly formalizes the ongoing policies and rhetoric of Trump and his team, it must be heeded as a grave warning for the world, and for the European continent in particular.

A Strategy of Interference and Cultural Fear

The document espouses an aggressive form of foreign-policy interference where the US clearly sets the goal of "fostering European strength." Its language could have been lifted directly from speeches by Viktor Orbán during the so-called migration emergency of 2015-16: "Our desire is for Europe to remain European, to reclaim its civilizational self-assurance." Even more worryingly, the document states that Europe's "economic decline is overshadowed by the genuine and starker possibility of civilizational erasure."

The entire section on Europe is imbued with decades of European far-right dogma and propaganda. The EU and its migration policies are blamed for "transforming the continent and causing conflict, suppression of free expression and stifling of dissent, plummeting birthrates, and loss of sovereign identity and self-belief." According to the document, if "present trends continue, the continent will be unrecognizable in 20 years or less. As such, it is not at all clear whether certain European countries will have economies and militaries powerful enough to remain dependable allies." Indeed, the Trump administration believes that "within a few decades at the latest, some 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 Ideas of the Far Right

These arguments carry powerful echoes of two theories regarded as core for contemporary right-wing circles. The first is Oswald Spengler's "The Decline of the West," whose thesis on the cyclical decline of civilizations was employed 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 "native" fears into a more explicit conspiracy theory, accusing European elites of using immigration to substitute restive "indigenous" populations and bring in a more docile and reliant electorate.

It is the nativist fever dream encapsulated in both ideas that grants the Trump administration the right, if not the duty, to intervene in European affairs, the document implies. And it is evident where it identifies its allies: "The United States encourages its political allies in Europe to advance this revival of national spirit, and the growing influence of nationalist European parties in fact gives cause for significant hope."

The Objective: "Restore European Greatness"

In other words, the US contends that it is key to its national security to "Restore European strength," and that the European far right is the sole movement that can achieve this. Consequently, its "overarching strategy for Europe" focuses on "fostering resistance to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations" – understood as the far right – and "strengthening the robust nations of central, eastern, and southern Europe" – specifically "nations in agreement that want to restore their former greatness" – such as Hungary and Italy.

While the document remains vague on methods, it is apparent that a priority is to push Europe to adopt a radical policy on freedom of speech, more aligned with the US model – particularly regarding right-wing speech – and not just on social media. Another is to normalize relations with Russia; or, as the document calls 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 enemy either.

An Ideological Blueprint: The Monroe Doctrine

In a broader sense, the national security strategy takes its inspiration 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 interfere in the "western hemisphere," which he declared to be the US’s zone of influence. The Trump administration’s policy document vows to "assert and enforce a Trump addition" to the Monroe Doctrine, which involves the US "recruiting" countries worldwide that wish to help protect US national interests.

This is entirely 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 maybe now that it is published in an official document, European leaders will finally understand that the situation is grave. And if the document is too lengthy or imprecise for them, it can be condensed in clear 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 only an unwilling ally; it is a willing adversary. Now is time to respond appropriately.