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On the very date Donald Trump received a custom-made "award for peace" from his recent ally, FIFA president "Gianni" Infantino, his administration released an equally ostentatious national security strategy. This fairly short paper drips with the essence of Trump and Trumpism. It opens with the characteristically modest assertion that the president has rescued "our nation – and the world – back from the edge of disaster and ruin."

Even though the strategy mostly codifies the current policies and rhetoric of Trump and his team, it must be taken as a grave warning for the world, and for Europe specifically.

A Strategy of Interference and Civilizational Fear

The document advocates for an assertive form of foreign-policy interference where the US explicitly sets the goal of "promoting European strength." Its rhetoric seems lifted straight from addresses by the Hungarian Prime Minister during the so-called migration emergency of 2015-16: "We want Europe to remain European, to regain its civilizational self-assurance." Even more ominously, the document states that Europe's "financial downturn is overshadowed by the genuine and more stark possibility of cultural extinction."

The whole section dedicated to Europe is steeped in decades of European far-right ideology and rhetoric. The EU and its migration policies are blamed for "transforming the continent and creating conflict, suppression of free expression and stifling of political opposition, cratering birthrates, and loss of national identities and self-confidence." 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 militaries powerful enough to be reliable allies." Indeed, the Trump administration believes that "in a matter of years at the latest, some NATO members will become predominantly non-European."

"American diplomacy should continue to champion authentic democracy, freedom of expression, and unapologetic celebrations of European nations’ unique heritage and history."

Core Ideas of the Right-Wing

These points carry strong echoes of two theories regarded as foundational for contemporary far-right circles. The first is Oswald Spengler's "Der Untergang des Abendlandes," whose thesis on the inevitable fall 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," published in 2011 by French novelist Renaud Camus, who transformed long-existing "indigenous" fears into a more explicit conspiratorial narrative, accusing European elites of using immigration to replace restive "indigenous" populations and import a more docile and dependent electorate.

It is the nationalist fantasy encapsulated in both ideas that grants the Trump administration the right, if not the obligation, to intervene in European affairs, the document implies. And it is evident where it identifies its allies: "America urges its political allies in Europe to promote this revival of national spirit, and the growing clout of nationalist European parties in fact gives cause for great optimism."

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 "broad policy for Europe" focuses on "fostering resistance to Europe’s present path within European nations" – meaning the far right – and "building up the robust nations of central, eastern, and southern Europe" – specifically "aligned countries that want to restore their past glory" – a clear reference to Hungary and Italy.

While the document remains unclear on implementation, it is obvious that a priority is to push Europe to adopt a sweeping policy on freedom of speech, closer to the US model – especially regarding far-right speech – and not just on social media. Another is to normalize 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 clearly does not treat Russia as an adversary either.

An Ideological Blueprint: The Monroe Doctrine

In a broader sense, the national security strategy takes its inspiration 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 meddle in the "Americas," which he declared to be the US’s sphere of interest. The Trump administration’s policy document vows to "implement a Trump corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine, which involves the US "recruiting" countries worldwide that wish to help safeguard US national interests.

None of 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 maybe now that it is laid out in an official document, European leaders will at last realize 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 believes that its national security is best served by the destruction of liberal democracy in Europe. In other words, the US is not only an unwilling ally; it is a deliberate adversary. Now is time to act appropriately.