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On the exact day Donald Trump received a custom-made "award for peace" from his recent friend, FIFA president "Gianni" Infantino, his administration published an similarly flamboyant security policy document. 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 catastrophe and disaster."

Even though the strategy largely formalizes the current policies and rhetoric of Trump and his team, it must be heeded as a grave warning for the international community, and for the European continent specifically.

A Blueprint of Interference and Civilizational Anxiety

The document espouses an aggressive form of foreign-policy interference where the US clearly sets the goal of "fostering European strength." Its language seems taken directly from addresses by Viktor Orbán during the much-discussed migration emergency of 2015-16: "We want Europe to remain European, to reclaim its cultural self-confidence." More worryingly, the document claims that Europe's "economic decline is overshadowed by the genuine and starker possibility of cultural extinction."

The whole section dedicated to Europe is steeped in decades of European far-right dogma and propaganda. The EU and its migration policies are held responsible for "transforming the continent and creating strife, censorship of free speech and stifling of dissent, cratering birthrates, and loss of national identities and self-belief." Per the document, if "present trends continue, the continent will be unrecognizable in 20 years or less. As such, it is far from obvious whether certain European countries will have economies and armed forces powerful enough to remain dependable allies." Indeed, the Trump administration believes that "within a few decades at the latest, certain NATO members will become majority non-European."

"American diplomacy should continue to stand up for authentic democracy, free speech, and unapologetic celebrations of European nations’ unique heritage and history."

Foundational Ideas of the Right-Wing

These points carry powerful echoes of two theories regarded as foundational for modern far-right circles. The first is Oswald Spengler's "The Decline of the West," whose argument on the cyclical decline of civilizations was used 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 transformed long-existing "native" fears into a more overt conspiratorial narrative, accusing European elites of using immigration to replace rebellious "native" populations and bring in a more docile and dependent electorate.

It is the nativist fantasy encapsulated in both ideas that grants the Trump administration the authority, if not the obligation, to intervene in European affairs, the document implies. And it is clear where it identifies its allies: "The United States urges its political allies in Europe to advance this resurgence of spirit, and the increasing influence of patriotic European parties indeed gives cause for significant hope."

The Objective: "Restore European Greatness"

Put simply, the US believes that it is essential to its national security to "Restore European strength," and that the European far right is the only political force that can accomplish this. Consequently, its "broad policy for Europe" focuses on "fostering 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 former greatness" – such as Hungary and Italy.

While the document stays vague on implementation, it is apparent that a key aim is to push Europe to adopt a sweeping policy on freedom of speech, more aligned with 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 calls it, to "restore strategic stability with Russia." Although the country is not directly called a future ally, the Trump administration clearly does not regard Russia as an adversary either.

A Historical Precedent: The Monroe Doctrine

In a broader sense, the national security strategy draws its ideas less from the glorified US of the 1950s and more from the 1823 policy of 1823. Articulated by President James Monroe, this cautioned European powers not to interfere in the "western hemisphere," which he declared to be the US’s sphere of interest. The Trump administration’s policy document promises 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 – consider JD Vance’s address 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 at last realize that the stance 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 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 willing adversary. It is time to respond appropriately.