On the very day Donald Trump received a tailor-made "peace prize" from his newest friend, FIFA president "Gianni" Infantino, his government released an similarly flamboyant national security strategy. This relatively short report is saturated with pure Trump and Trumpism. It opens with the typically humble claim that the president has brought back "the United States and the globe – back from the edge of disaster and ruin."
Even though the document largely formalizes the current policies and rhetoric of Trump and his cabinet, it must be taken as a serious warning for the world, and for the European continent in particular.
A Blueprint of Interference and Cultural Anxiety
The document advocates for an aggressive form of foreign-policy meddling where the US explicitly sets the goal of "promoting European strength." Its language could have been lifted directly from speeches by Viktor Orbán during the much-discussed migration emergency of 2015-16: "Our desire is for Europe to remain European, to reclaim its cultural self-confidence." Even more worryingly, the document claims that Europe's "financial downturn is eclipsed by the genuine and starker prospect of civilizational erasure."
The whole section on 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 conflict, censorship of free expression and suppression of political opposition, cratering birthrates, and erosion of national identities and self-confidence." According to the document, if "current trajectories continue, the continent will be unrecognisable 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." In fact, the Trump administration asserts that "in a matter of years at the latest, certain NATO members will become majority non-European."
"American diplomacy should continue to champion genuine democracy, free speech, and proud commemorations of European nations’ individual character and history."
Core Ideas of the Right-Wing
These arguments carry powerful overtones of two concepts regarded as core for modern far-right 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 "weakness" 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 conspiracy theory, accusing European elites of using immigration to replace restive "indigenous" populations and import a more docile and reliant electorate.
It is the nativist fantasy encapsulated in both ideas that gives the Trump administration the right, if not the duty, to intervene in European affairs, the document suggests. And it is clear where it sees its allies: "America encourages its political allies in Europe to advance this revival of national spirit, and the growing clout of patriotic European parties in fact 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 sole movement that can achieve this. Consequently, its "overarching strategy for Europe" prioritises "cultivating resistance to Europe’s present path within European nations" – understood as the far right – and "strengthening the robust nations of central, eastern, and southern Europe" – specifically "aligned countries 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, closer to the US model – especially regarding right-wing speech – and not just on social media. Another is to normalise relations with Russia; or, as the document phrases 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.
An Ideological Precedent: 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 Monroe Doctrine 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 sphere of interest. The Trump administration’s policy document promises to "assert and enforce a Trump corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine, which entails the US "recruiting" countries worldwide that wish to help protect 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 assault on Europe’s democratic model. But maybe now that it is laid out in an official document, European leaders will at last understand that the situation is grave. And if the document is too lengthy or imprecise 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 destruction of liberal democracy in Europe. To put it bluntly, the US is not just an reluctant ally; it is a deliberate adversary. It is time to act appropriately.
