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On the very date Donald Trump received a custom-made "award for peace" from his newest friend, FIFA president "Johnny" Infantino, his administration published an similarly flamboyant 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 brought back "our nation – and the world – back from the edge of disaster and ruin."

Even though the strategy largely formalizes the current policies and statements of Trump and his cabinet, it must be taken as a serious warning for the international community, and for the European continent specifically.

A Strategy of Interference and Civilizational Fear

The document advocates for an aggressive form of foreign-policy interference where the US clearly sets the goal of "promoting European greatness." Its rhetoric seems taken directly from addresses by Viktor Orbán during the much-discussed migration emergency of 2015-16: "Our desire is for Europe to remain European, to regain its civilizational self-confidence." More ominously, the document states that Europe's "financial downturn is overshadowed by the genuine and starker possibility of cultural extinction."

The whole section on Europe is imbued with generations of European far-right dogma and propaganda. The EU and its migration policies are held responsible for "transforming the continent and creating conflict, suppression of free expression and suppression of dissent, cratering birthrates, and loss of national identities and self-belief." Per the document, if "present trends continue, the continent will be unrecognisable in 20 years or less. As such, it is not at all clear whether some European countries will have economies and armed forces strong enough to remain dependable allies." Indeed, the Trump administration believes that "within a few decades at the latest, some NATO members will become predominantly non-European."

"U.S. foreign policy should continue to champion genuine democracy, free speech, and unapologetic celebrations of European nations’ individual character and history."

Foundational Theories of the Far Right

These points carry powerful echoes of two concepts regarded as foundational for contemporary far-right circles. The first is Oswald Spengler's "Der Untergang des Abendlandes," whose thesis on the cyclical decline 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 conspiracy theory, accusing European elites of using immigration to substitute restive "native" populations and import a more submissive and reliant electorate.

It is the nationalist fantasy encapsulated in both ideas that grants the Trump administration the authority, if not the obligation, to intervene in European affairs, the document suggests. And it is clear where it identifies its allies: "The United States urges its ideological partners in Europe to advance this revival of spirit, and the growing influence of nationalist European parties indeed gives cause for great optimism."

The Objective: "Make Europe Great Again"

In other words, the US contends that it is essential to its national security to "Make Europe great again," and that the European far right is the only political force that can accomplish this. Consequently, its "broad policy for Europe" prioritises "cultivating resistance to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations" – meaning the far right – and "building up the robust nations of central, eastern, and southern Europe" – in particular "aligned countries that want to reclaim their past glory" – a clear reference to Hungary and Italy.

While the document remains vague on methods, it is apparent that a priority is to push Europe to adopt a sweeping policy on freedom of speech, more aligned with the US model – especially regarding far-right speech – and not limited to 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 treat Russia as an adversary either.

An Ideological Precedent: The Monroe Doctrine

In a wider context, the national security strategy takes its inspiration less from the glorified US of the 1950s and more from the Monroe Doctrine of 1823. Articulated by President James Monroe, this warned European powers not to meddle in the "Americas," which he proclaimed to be the US’s zone of influence. The Trump administration’s policy document vows to "implement a Trump addition" to the Monroe Doctrine, which entails the US "enlisting" countries worldwide that wish to help protect US national interests.

None of this is necessarily new – recall JD Vance’s speech 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 formal document, European leaders will at last understand that the situation is grave. 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 only an reluctant ally; it is a deliberate adversary. It is time to act accordingly.