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On the exact day Donald Trump received a tailor-made "award for peace" from his recent friend, FIFA president "Johnny" Infantino, his government published an similarly ostentatious security policy document. This fairly short paper drips with pure Trump and Trumpism. It opens with the characteristically humble claim that the president has brought back "the United States and the globe – back from the brink of catastrophe and ruin."

Even though the strategy largely formalizes the current policies and statements of Trump and his team, it must be heeded as a grave caution for the international community, and for the European continent specifically.

A Blueprint of Interference and Civilizational Anxiety

The document advocates for an assertive form of foreign-policy meddling where the US explicitly sets the goal of "promoting European greatness." Its language could have been taken straight from speeches by the Hungarian Prime Minister during the much-discussed migration emergency of 2015-16: "Our desire is for Europe to remain European, to regain its civilizational self-confidence." More worryingly, the document states that Europe's "financial downturn is eclipsed by the real and starker prospect of civilizational erasure."

The entire section on Europe is steeped in decades of European right-wing ideology and rhetoric. The EU and its migration policies are held responsible for "transforming the continent and creating conflict, suppression of free expression and suppression of dissent, plummeting birthrates, and erosion of sovereign identity 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 certain European countries will have economies and militaries powerful enough to remain reliable allies." Indeed, the Trump administration believes that "in a matter of years at the latest, some NATO members will become majority non-European."

"U.S. foreign policy should continue to champion authentic democracy, free speech, and unapologetic celebrations of European nations’ individual character and past."

Core Ideas of the Right-Wing

These points carry strong overtones of two concepts seen as core for modern right-wing circles. The first is Oswald Spengler's "The Decline of the West," whose argument on the cyclical decline of civilizations was employed by the German far right to attack the "perversion" and "weakness" of the democratic Weimar Republic. The second is "The Great Replacement," published in 2011 by French novelist Renaud Camus, who transformed long-existing "native" fears into a more overt conspiratorial narrative, alleging European elites of using immigration to substitute rebellious "native" populations and bring in a more docile and dependent electorate.

It is the nativist fantasy encapsulated in both ideas that gives the Trump administration the authority, if not the obligation, to intervene in European affairs, the document implies. And it is evident where it identifies its allies: "America encourages its political allies in Europe to advance this revival of spirit, and the growing influence of patriotic European parties indeed 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 only political force that can achieve this. Therefore, its "overarching strategy for Europe" focuses on "fostering opposition 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 restore their past glory" – a clear reference to Hungary and Italy.

While the document stays unclear on implementation, it is obvious that a priority is to push Europe to adopt a radical policy on freedom of speech, closer to the US model – especially regarding right-wing speech – and not just on social media. Another is to normalise relations with Russia; or, as the document calls it, to "reestablish strategic stability with Russia." Although the country is not explicitly called a future ally, the Trump administration clearly does not regard Russia as an adversary either.

An Ideological 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 Monroe Doctrine of 1823. Articulated by President James Monroe, this cautioned European powers not to interfere in the "Americas," which he proclaimed 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 speech at the 2025 Munich Security Conference, where the vice-president unleashed an assault on Europe’s democratic model. But maybe now that it is published in an official document, European leaders will at last understand that the situation is grave. And if the document is too long or imprecise for them, it can be summarised 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 just an reluctant ally; it is a deliberate adversary. It is time to respond appropriately.