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On the exact date Donald Trump was presented with a custom-made "award for peace" from his recent friend, FIFA president "Johnny" Infantino, his government published an equally flamboyant national security strategy. This relatively short paper drips with pure Trump and Trumpism. It opens with the typically modest claim that the president has rescued "the United States and the globe – back from the brink of catastrophe and disaster."

Even though the strategy largely formalizes the current policies and statements of Trump and his team, it must be heeded as a serious warning for the world, and for Europe in particular.

A Strategy of Intervention and Civilizational Anxiety

The document espouses an assertive form of foreign-policy interference where the US clearly sets the goal of "fostering European greatness." Its rhetoric seems taken straight from speeches by the Hungarian Prime Minister during the so-called migration emergency of 2015-16: "We want Europe to stay European, to regain its civilizational self-assurance." More ominously, the document claims that Europe's "financial downturn is eclipsed by the genuine and starker prospect of cultural extinction."

The entire section dedicated to Europe is imbued with generations of European far-right dogma and rhetoric. The EU and its migration policies are blamed for "changing the continent and causing conflict, suppression of free speech and stifling of dissent, cratering 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 far from obvious whether certain European countries will have economies and militaries powerful enough to be dependable allies." In fact, the Trump administration believes that "in a matter of years at the latest, certain NATO members will become majority non-European."

"American diplomacy should continue to champion authentic democracy, freedom of expression, and unapologetic celebrations of European nations’ individual character and past."

Foundational Theories of the Right-Wing

These arguments carry powerful echoes of two theories regarded as foundational for modern far-right circles. The first is Oswald Spengler's "The Decline of the West," whose thesis on the inevitable fall of civilizations was used by the German far right to attack the "decadence" and "enfeeblement" 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, accusing European elites of using immigration to substitute restive "indigenous" populations and import a more docile and dependent electorate.

It is the nativist fantasy contained in both ideas that gives the Trump administration the authority, if not the obligation, to interfere in European affairs, the document suggests. And it is clear where it identifies its allies: "America encourages its ideological partners in Europe to advance this resurgence of spirit, and the growing clout of patriotic European parties indeed 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 accomplish 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 healthy nations of central, eastern, and southern Europe" – specifically "nations in agreement that want to restore their past glory" – a clear reference to Hungary and Italy.

While the document remains unclear on methods, it is apparent that a priority is to pressure Europe to adopt a sweeping policy on freedom of speech, more aligned with the US model – particularly regarding far-right speech – and not limited to social media. Another is to normalise relations with Russia; or, as the document phrases it, to "restore strategic stability with Russia." Although the country is not directly called a future ally, the Trump administration evidently does not regard Russia as an adversary either.

A Historical Precedent: The Monroe Doctrine

In a wider context, the national security strategy draws its ideas less from the glorified US of the 1950s and more from the 1823 policy of 1823. Proclaimed by President James Monroe, this cautioned European powers not to interfere in the "Americas," which he declared to be the US’s zone of influence. The Trump administration’s policy document vows 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 – recall JD Vance’s speech at the 2025 Munich Security Conference, where the vice-president launched an assault on Europe’s democratic model. But perhaps now that it is laid out in an formal document, European leaders will at last understand that the stance is grave. And if the document is too lengthy or vague for them, it can be condensed in clear and succinct terms: the current US government holds that its national security is best served by the destruction of liberal democracy in Europe. In other words, the US is not just an unwilling ally; it is a willing adversary. Now is time to act appropriately.