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On the very day Donald Trump was presented with a tailor-made "award for peace" from his newest friend, FIFA president "Johnny" Infantino, his government published an similarly ostentatious national security strategy. This relatively short report is saturated with pure Trump and Trumpism. It opens with the typically modest assertion that the president has rescued "the United States and the globe – back from the edge of disaster and ruin."

Even though the document largely formalizes the current policies and statements of Trump and his team, it must be taken as a grave warning for the international community, and for Europe in particular.

A Strategy of Intervention and Civilizational Fear

The document espouses an aggressive form of foreign-policy meddling where the US clearly sets the goal of "fostering European strength." Its language seems lifted straight from addresses by the Hungarian Prime Minister during the so-called refugee crisis of 2015-16: "Our desire is for Europe to stay European, to reclaim its cultural self-confidence." More ominously, 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 steeped in generations of European far-right ideology and propaganda. The EU and its migration policies are held responsible for "changing the continent and causing strife, suppression of free expression and suppression of political opposition, 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 economic power and militaries powerful enough to be dependable allies." Indeed, the Trump administration asserts that "in a matter of years at the latest, certain NATO members will become majority non-European."

"U.S. foreign policy should continue to stand up for genuine democracy, freedom of expression, and unapologetic celebrations of European nations’ unique heritage and history."

Core Ideas of the Far Right

These arguments carry powerful echoes of two concepts seen as core for contemporary far-right 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 criticise the "perversion" and "enfeeblement" of the democratic Weimar Republic. The second is "Le Grand Remplacement," released in 2011 by French novelist Renaud Camus, who transformed long-existing "indigenous" fears into a more overt conspiracy theory, alleging European elites of using immigration to replace restive "indigenous" populations and import a more submissive and reliant electorate.

It is the nativist fever dream contained in both ideas that gives the Trump administration the right, if not the duty, to interfere in European affairs, the document suggests. And it is clear where it sees its allies: "America urges its political allies in Europe to promote this resurgence of spirit, and the growing clout of patriotic European parties in fact gives cause for significant hope."

The Objective: "Restore European Greatness"

Put simply, the US contends that it is essential to its national security to "Restore European strength," and that the European far right is the sole movement that can accomplish this. Therefore, its "broad policy for Europe" focuses on "cultivating opposition to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations" – understood as the far right – and "building up the robust nations of central, eastern, and southern Europe" – specifically "nations in agreement that want to reclaim their former greatness" – such as Hungary and Italy.

While the document remains vague on methods, it is obvious that a key aim is to push Europe to adopt a sweeping policy on freedom of speech, closer to the US model – especially regarding right-wing 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 clearly does not regard Russia as an adversary either.

A Historical 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. Proclaimed by President James Monroe, this cautioned European powers not to interfere in the "western hemisphere," which he proclaimed to be the US’s sphere of interest. The Trump administration’s policy document promises to "implement a Trump addition" to the Monroe Doctrine, which entails the US "enlisting" countries worldwide that wish to help safeguard US national interests.

None of this is necessarily new – consider JD Vance’s address at the 2025 Munich Security Conference, where the vice-president launched an assault on Europe’s democratic model. But maybe now that it is published in an official document, European leaders will finally realize that the stance is grave. And if the document is too lengthy or imprecise for them, it can be summarised in plain and concise terms: the current US government holds that its national security is most enhanced by the destruction 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 accordingly.