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On the exact date Donald Trump received a tailor-made "award for peace" from his newest ally, FIFA president "Gianni" Infantino, his administration released an similarly ostentatious national security strategy. This fairly short report drips with pure Trump and Trumpism. It begins with the typically modest claim that the president has rescued "our nation – and the world – back from the edge of catastrophe and disaster."

Even though the strategy largely formalizes the current actions and rhetoric of Trump and his team, it must be heeded as a serious warning for the world, and for Europe specifically.

A Blueprint of Interference and Civilizational Fear

The document advocates for an aggressive form of foreign-policy meddling where the US explicitly sets the goal of "fostering European strength." Its rhetoric could have been taken directly from speeches by Viktor Orbán during the much-discussed migration emergency of 2015-16: "Our desire is for Europe to stay European, to regain its civilizational self-confidence." Even more worryingly, the document claims that Europe's "economic decline is overshadowed by the real and starker possibility of civilizational erasure."

The entire section dedicated to Europe is imbued with generations of European far-right dogma and propaganda. The EU and its migration policies are held responsible for "changing the continent and causing conflict, suppression of free expression and stifling of dissent, cratering birthrates, and erosion of sovereign identity and self-confidence." Per the document, if "current trajectories continue, the continent will be unrecognizable in 20 years or less. As such, it is far from obvious whether some European countries will have economic power and armed forces powerful enough to remain dependable allies." In fact, the Trump administration believes that "in a matter of years at the latest, some NATO members will become predominantly non-European."

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

Foundational Ideas of the Right-Wing

These points carry powerful overtones of two concepts regarded as foundational for contemporary right-wing circles. The first is Oswald Spengler's "The Decline of the West," whose thesis on the inevitable fall of civilizations was used 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 explicit conspiratorial narrative, accusing European elites of using immigration to substitute rebellious "indigenous" populations and bring in 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 evident where it sees its allies: "The United States urges its ideological partners in Europe to advance this resurgence of spirit, and the increasing clout of nationalist European parties in fact gives cause for great optimism."

The Objective: "Make Europe Great Again"

In other words, the US believes 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 achieve this. Therefore, its "overarching strategy for Europe" prioritises "cultivating opposition to Europe’s present path within European nations" – understood as the far right – and "strengthening the robust 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 vague on methods, it is obvious that a key aim is to push 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 calls 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.

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 1823 policy of 1823. Proclaimed by President James Monroe, this cautioned European powers not to interfere in the "western hemisphere," which he declared 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 "recruiting" countries worldwide that wish to help safeguard US national interests.

This is necessarily new – consider JD Vance’s speech at the 2025 Munich Security Conference, where the vice-president unleashed an ideological attack on Europe’s democratic model. But perhaps 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 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 willing adversary. It is time to respond accordingly.