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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 "Gianni" Infantino, his government released an equally ostentatious national security strategy. This fairly short report is saturated with pure Trump and Trumpism. It begins with the typically humble claim that the president has rescued "the United States and the globe – back from the brink of catastrophe and disaster."

Even though the strategy mostly codifies the current policies and statements of Trump and his cabinet, it must be taken as a grave caution for the world, and for the European continent in particular.

A Blueprint of Intervention and Cultural Anxiety

The document espouses an assertive form of foreign-policy meddling where the US explicitly sets the goal of "fostering European strength." Its language seems lifted directly from speeches by Viktor Orbán during the so-called refugee crisis of 2015-16: "Our desire is for Europe to stay European, to reclaim its cultural self-confidence." Even more ominously, the document claims that Europe's "economic decline is overshadowed by the genuine and starker possibility of civilizational erasure."

The whole section on Europe is imbued with decades of European right-wing dogma and propaganda. The EU and its migration policies are held responsible for "changing the continent and causing conflict, censorship of free speech and stifling of dissent, cratering birthrates, and erosion of sovereign identity and self-belief." According to 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 stand up for authentic democracy, freedom of expression, and unapologetic commemorations of European nations’ unique heritage and past."

Foundational Theories of the Right-Wing

These arguments carry powerful echoes of two concepts seen as core for contemporary far-right circles. The first is Oswald Spengler's "Der Untergang des Abendlandes," whose argument on the inevitable fall of civilizations was employed 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 translated long-existing "indigenous" fears into a more explicit conspiracy theory, accusing European elites of using immigration to replace restive "indigenous" populations and import a more submissive and dependent electorate.

It is the nationalist fever dream contained 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 sees its allies: "America urges its political allies in Europe to advance this resurgence of national spirit, and the growing clout of patriotic European parties in fact gives cause for significant hope."

The Goal: "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 political force that can accomplish this. Consequently, its "overarching strategy for Europe" focuses on "fostering resistance to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations" – understood as the far right – and "building up the healthy nations of central, eastern, and southern Europe" – in particular "aligned countries that want to reclaim their former greatness" – such as Hungary and Italy.

While the document stays vague on implementation, it is obvious that a key aim is to pressure Europe to adopt a radical policy on freedom of speech, closer to the US model – particularly regarding right-wing speech – and not just on social media. Another is to normalize relations with Russia; or, as the document phrases it, to "reestablish 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 Blueprint: The Monroe Doctrine

In a wider context, the national security strategy takes its inspiration less from the idealized US of the 1950s and more from the Monroe Doctrine of 1823. Proclaimed by President James Monroe, this cautioned European powers not to meddle in the "western hemisphere," which he declared to be the US’s sphere of interest. The Trump administration’s policy document vows to "assert and enforce a Trump corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine, which involves the US "enlisting" 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 launched an assault on Europe’s democratic model. But maybe now that it is published in an official document, European leaders will at last realize that the stance is serious. And if the document is too lengthy or vague 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 deliberate adversary. It is time to act appropriately.