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On the very date Donald Trump received a custom-made "award for peace" from his recent friend, FIFA president "Gianni" Infantino, his administration released an similarly flamboyant national security strategy. This relatively brief paper is saturated with pure Trump and Trumpism. It opens with the characteristically modest claim that the president has rescued "our nation – and the world – back from the edge of catastrophe and ruin."

Even though the document mostly codifies the ongoing actions and rhetoric of Trump and his cabinet, it must be taken as a grave warning for the world, and for the European continent specifically.

A Blueprint of Intervention and Civilizational Anxiety

The document advocates for an aggressive form of foreign-policy meddling where the US clearly sets the goal of "promoting European greatness." Its language could have been lifted directly from addresses by the Hungarian Prime Minister during the so-called migration emergency of 2015-16: "Our desire is for Europe to stay European, to regain its civilizational self-confidence." Even more ominously, the document claims that Europe's "economic decline is eclipsed by the real and starker possibility of cultural extinction."

The whole section dedicated to Europe is imbued with generations of European far-right ideology and propaganda. The EU and its migration policies are held responsible for "changing the continent and causing conflict, suppression of free speech and suppression of political opposition, plummeting birthrates, and loss of sovereign identity and self-belief." Per the document, if "current trajectories 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 economies and militaries powerful enough to remain dependable allies." Indeed, the Trump administration asserts that "in a matter of years at the latest, certain NATO members will become predominantly non-European."

"American diplomacy should continue to stand up for authentic democracy, freedom of expression, and proud commemorations of European nations’ individual character and past."

Foundational Theories of the Far Right

These arguments carry strong echoes of two concepts seen as core 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 employed by the German far right to attack the "perversion" and "enfeeblement" of the democratic Weimar Republic. The second is "The Great Replacement," released in 2011 by French novelist Renaud Camus, who translated long-existing "indigenous" fears into a more explicit conspiratorial narrative, alleging European elites of using immigration to replace restive "native" populations and bring in a more docile and reliant electorate.

It is the nationalist fever dream contained in both ideas that gives the Trump administration the authority, if not the duty, 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 promote this revival of spirit, and the growing influence of patriotic European parties in fact gives cause for great optimism."

The Objective: "Restore European Greatness"

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 sole political force that can accomplish this. Consequently, its "broad policy for Europe" prioritises "cultivating resistance to Europe’s present path within European nations" – understood as the far right – and "strengthening the healthy nations of central, eastern, and southern Europe" – in particular "nations in agreement that want to reclaim their past glory" – such as Hungary and Italy.

While the document stays unclear on implementation, it is apparent that a key aim is to push Europe to adopt a sweeping 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 calls it, to "reestablish 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 draws its ideas less from the idealized 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 "western hemisphere," which he proclaimed to be the US’s zone of influence. The Trump administration’s policy document vows to "implement a Trump corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine, which entails 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 launched an ideological attack on Europe’s democratic model. But maybe now that it is laid out in an official document, European leaders will finally understand that the situation is serious. And if the document is too long or vague for them, it can be summarised in clear and succinct terms: the current US government believes that its national security is most enhanced by the destruction of liberal democracy in Europe. In other words, the US is not just an unwilling ally; it is a deliberate adversary. Now is time to respond appropriately.