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On the very date Donald Trump received a tailor-made "peace prize" from his recent ally, FIFA president "Johnny" Infantino, his government published an similarly flamboyant national security strategy. This relatively short paper drips with pure Trump and Trumpism. It begins with the characteristically modest claim that the president has rescued "our nation – and the world – back from the edge of disaster and disaster."

Even though the document largely codifies the ongoing actions and statements of Trump and his team, it must be taken as a serious warning for the international community, and for Europe specifically.

A Blueprint of Intervention and Civilizational Anxiety

The document advocates for an aggressive form of foreign-policy interference where the US explicitly sets the goal of "fostering European greatness." Its language seems lifted directly from addresses by Viktor Orbán during the so-called refugee crisis of 2015-16: "We want Europe to stay European, to reclaim its cultural self-confidence." Even more worryingly, the document states that Europe's "financial downturn is overshadowed by the genuine and starker prospect of civilizational erasure."

The whole section dedicated to Europe is imbued with generations of European far-right dogma and rhetoric. The EU and its migration policies are held responsible for "changing the continent and creating strife, suppression of free speech and stifling of political opposition, plummeting 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 certain European countries will have economies and militaries strong enough to be 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 genuine democracy, free speech, and unapologetic celebrations of European nations’ unique heritage and history."

Foundational Theories of the Right-Wing

These points carry strong echoes of two concepts seen as foundational for modern right-wing circles. The first is Oswald Spengler's "The Decline of the West," whose thesis on the cyclical decline of civilizations was used by the German far right to criticise the "perversion" and "enfeeblement" of the democratic Weimar Republic. The second is "The Great Replacement," released 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 "native" populations and import a more docile and dependent electorate.

It is the nationalist fantasy encapsulated in both ideas that gives the Trump administration the right, if not the duty, to intervene in European affairs, the document implies. And it is clear where it sees its allies: "America encourages its political allies in Europe to promote this revival of spirit, and the growing influence of patriotic European parties in fact gives cause for great optimism."

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 only movement that can achieve this. Consequently, its "overarching strategy for Europe" focuses on "fostering opposition to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations" – meaning the far right – and "building up the healthy nations of central, eastern, and southern Europe" – specifically "nations in agreement that want to restore their former greatness" – such as Hungary and Italy.

While the document remains unclear 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 – particularly regarding far-right speech – and not just on 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 treat 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. Articulated by President James Monroe, this cautioned European powers not to meddle in the "western hemisphere," which he proclaimed to be the US’s sphere of interest. The Trump administration’s policy document vows to "assert and enforce a Trump addition" 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 – consider JD Vance’s address at the 2025 Munich Security Conference, where the vice-president unleashed an assault on Europe’s democratic model. But maybe now that it is laid out in an official document, European leaders will finally realize that the situation is grave. And if the document is too lengthy or imprecise 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 demise of liberal democracy in Europe. To put it bluntly, the US is not only an unwilling ally; it is a deliberate adversary. Now is time to respond appropriately.