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On the exact date Donald Trump received a tailor-made "award for peace" from his newest friend, FIFA president "Johnny" Infantino, his administration published an equally flamboyant national security strategy. This fairly brief report drips with pure Trump and Trumpism. It opens with the characteristically modest claim that the president has brought back "our nation – and the world – back from the edge of disaster and ruin."

Even though the document largely codifies the current actions and statements of Trump and his cabinet, it must be heeded as a serious warning for the world, and for Europe specifically.

A Strategy of Interference and Cultural Fear

The document espouses an aggressive form of foreign-policy interference where the US clearly sets the goal of "promoting European strength." Its language could have been taken directly from speeches by the Hungarian Prime Minister during the so-called migration emergency of 2015-16: "Our desire is for Europe to stay European, to reclaim its civilizational self-assurance." Even more worryingly, the document claims that Europe's "financial downturn is eclipsed by the real and starker possibility of cultural extinction."

The whole section dedicated to Europe is imbued with decades of European right-wing ideology and propaganda. The EU and its migration policies are blamed for "changing the continent and causing strife, suppression of free expression and suppression of dissent, plummeting birthrates, and erosion of national identities and self-confidence." According to the document, if "present trends continue, the continent will be unrecognizable in 20 years or less. As such, it is far from obvious whether some European countries will have economies and armed forces strong enough to remain reliable allies." In fact, the Trump administration believes that "in a matter of years at the latest, certain NATO members will become predominantly non-European."

"U.S. foreign policy should continue to stand up for authentic democracy, free speech, and unapologetic commemorations of European nations’ unique heritage and past."

Foundational Theories of the Far Right

These arguments carry strong overtones of two theories regarded as core for contemporary right-wing circles. The first is Oswald Spengler's "The Decline of the West," whose argument on the inevitable fall of civilizations was employed by the German far right to attack the "perversion" and "weakness" 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 overt conspiratorial narrative, accusing European elites of using immigration to substitute restive "indigenous" populations and bring in a more docile and reliant electorate.

It is the nationalist fantasy contained in both ideas that gives the Trump administration the authority, if not the obligation, to intervene in European affairs, the document suggests. And it is evident where it identifies its allies: "America encourages its ideological partners in Europe to promote this resurgence of national spirit, and the growing clout of nationalist European parties indeed gives cause for significant hope."

The Goal: "Make Europe Great Again"

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 accomplish this. Therefore, its "overarching strategy for Europe" focuses on "fostering opposition to Europe’s present path within European nations" – meaning the far right – and "building up the robust nations of central, eastern, and southern Europe" – specifically "aligned countries that want to restore their past glory" – such as Hungary and Italy.

While the document stays vague on methods, it is obvious that a priority is to pressure Europe to adopt a sweeping policy on freedom of speech, closer to the US model – particularly regarding far-right speech – and not limited to social media. Another is to normalize relations with Russia; or, as the document calls it, to "restore strategic stability with Russia." Although the country is not explicitly called a future ally, the Trump administration evidently does not regard Russia as an enemy either.

A Historical Precedent: The Monroe Doctrine

In a wider context, the national security strategy draws its ideas less from the idealized US of the 1950s and more from the Monroe Doctrine of 1823. Proclaimed by President James Monroe, this warned European powers not to interfere in the "Americas," which he proclaimed to be the US’s zone of influence. The Trump administration’s policy document promises to "implement a Trump corollary" 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 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 situation is serious. And if the document is too lengthy or vague for them, it can be condensed in plain and concise terms: the current US government believes that its national security is best served by the demise of liberal democracy in Europe. In other words, the US is not only an unwilling ally; it is a willing adversary. Now is time to respond appropriately.