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On the very date Donald Trump received a tailor-made "award for peace" from his recent ally, FIFA president "Johnny" Infantino, his administration released an equally flamboyant national security strategy. This relatively short report drips with pure Trump and Trumpism. It opens with the typically modest assertion that the president has brought back "the United States and the globe – back from the edge of catastrophe and disaster."

Even though the strategy largely formalizes the current policies and statements of Trump and his cabinet, it must be heeded as a grave caution for the international community, and for Europe in particular.

A Blueprint of Intervention and Cultural Fear

The document espouses an assertive form of foreign-policy meddling where the US clearly sets the goal of "fostering European greatness." Its rhetoric seems lifted directly from speeches by the Hungarian Prime Minister during the much-discussed refugee crisis of 2015-16: "Our desire is for Europe to stay European, to regain its civilizational self-confidence." More ominously, the document claims that Europe's "financial downturn is overshadowed by the real 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 blamed for "changing the continent and creating strife, suppression of free speech and stifling of political opposition, plummeting birthrates, and loss 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 not at all clear whether some European countries will have economies and armed forces strong enough to be dependable allies." In fact, the Trump administration asserts that "in a matter of years at the latest, certain NATO members will become predominantly non-European."

"U.S. foreign policy should continue to champion authentic democracy, free speech, and proud commemorations of European nations’ unique heritage and past."

Foundational Ideas of the Far Right

These arguments carry powerful echoes of two concepts seen as foundational for modern right-wing circles. The first is Oswald Spengler's "Der Untergang des Abendlandes," whose argument on the cyclical decline of civilizations was used by the German far right to attack the "perversion" and "weakness" of the democratic Weimar Republic. The second is "The Great Replacement," published in 2011 by French novelist Renaud Camus, who transformed long-existing "native" fears into a more explicit conspiracy theory, accusing European elites of using immigration to replace restive "indigenous" populations and import a more docile and dependent electorate.

It is the nationalist fantasy encapsulated in both ideas that gives the Trump administration the authority, if not the obligation, to intervene in European affairs, the document implies. And it is evident where it sees its allies: "The United States encourages its ideological partners in Europe to promote this revival of spirit, and the increasing clout of patriotic European parties indeed gives cause for great optimism."

The Objective: "Restore European Greatness"

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 only movement that can achieve this. Therefore, its "overarching strategy for Europe" prioritises "cultivating opposition to Europe’s current trajectory 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 remains vague on implementation, it is apparent that a priority is to pressure Europe to adopt a sweeping policy on freedom of speech, closer to the US model – particularly regarding right-wing 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 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. Articulated by President James Monroe, this cautioned European powers not to meddle in the "Americas," which he declared 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.

None of 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 maybe now that it is published 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 clear and concise terms: the current US government holds that its national security is most enhanced by the demise of liberal democracy in Europe. To put it bluntly, the US is not just an unwilling ally; it is a deliberate adversary. Now is time to act accordingly.