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On the very date Donald Trump was presented with a tailor-made "award for peace" from his newest friend, FIFA president "Johnny" Infantino, his government published an equally flamboyant national security strategy. This relatively brief paper drips with pure Trump and Trumpism. It opens with the typically humble claim that the president has brought back "our nation – and the world – back from the brink of catastrophe and disaster."

Even though the strategy mostly formalizes the current actions and statements of Trump and his cabinet, it must be taken as a serious caution for the world, and for Europe specifically.

A Strategy of Interference and Cultural Anxiety

The document espouses an assertive form of foreign-policy interference where the US explicitly sets the goal of "fostering European strength." Its rhetoric seems taken straight from addresses by the Hungarian Prime Minister during the much-discussed refugee crisis of 2015-16: "Our desire is for Europe to remain European, to regain its civilizational self-confidence." Even more worryingly, the document states that Europe's "economic decline is overshadowed by the real and starker prospect of cultural extinction."

The entire section dedicated to Europe is imbued with decades of European right-wing ideology and propaganda. The EU and its migration policies are blamed for "transforming the continent and causing conflict, censorship of free speech and stifling of political opposition, cratering birthrates, and loss of national identities and self-belief." Per the document, if "current trajectories continue, the continent will be unrecognisable 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 "in a matter of years 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 proud celebrations of European nations’ individual character and past."

Core Theories of the Right-Wing

These arguments carry strong overtones of two theories seen as foundational for contemporary far-right circles. The first is Oswald Spengler's "The Decline of the West," whose argument on the inevitable fall of civilizations was employed by the German far right to criticise the "perversion" and "enfeeblement" of the democratic Weimar Republic. The second is "The Great Replacement," 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 replace rebellious "native" populations and bring in a more docile and reliant electorate.

It is the nationalist fever dream contained in both ideas that gives the Trump administration the right, if not the duty, to interfere in European affairs, the document implies. And it is evident where it identifies its allies: "America urges its ideological partners in Europe to advance this resurgence of spirit, and the increasing influence of nationalist European parties in fact gives cause for significant hope."

The Goal: "Make Europe Great Again"

Put simply, 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. Therefore, its "broad policy for Europe" focuses on "fostering resistance to Europe’s present path within European nations" – meaning the far right – and "strengthening the healthy nations of central, eastern, and southern Europe" – in particular "nations in agreement that want to reclaim their former greatness" – a clear reference to Hungary and Italy.

While the document remains vague on methods, it is obvious that a priority is to pressure Europe to adopt a radical policy on freedom of speech, closer to the US model – especially regarding far-right speech – and not limited to social media. Another is to normalise relations with Russia; or, as the document calls it, to "restore strategic stability with Russia." Although the country is not directly called a future ally, the Trump administration evidently does not treat Russia as an adversary either.

An Ideological Precedent: 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. Articulated by President James Monroe, this warned European powers not to meddle in the "western hemisphere," which he proclaimed to be the US’s sphere of interest. The Trump administration’s policy document vows to "implement a Trump addition" to the Monroe Doctrine, which entails the US "enlisting" countries worldwide that wish to help safeguard US national interests.

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 formal document, European leaders will finally understand that the stance is grave. And if the document is too lengthy 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 demise of liberal democracy in Europe. In other words, the US is not just an unwilling ally; it is a willing adversary. It is time to respond appropriately.