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On the very day Donald Trump was presented with a custom-made "award for peace" from his recent friend, FIFA president "Johnny" Infantino, his government released an similarly ostentatious national security strategy. This fairly brief report drips with pure Trump and Trumpism. It begins with the characteristically modest assertion that the president has brought back "our nation – and the world – back from the brink of catastrophe and disaster."

Even though the document mostly formalizes the current actions and statements of Trump and his cabinet, it must be heeded as a serious caution for the world, and for the European continent specifically.

A Strategy of Intervention and Cultural Fear

The document advocates for an aggressive form of foreign-policy meddling where the US clearly sets the goal of "promoting European strength." Its rhetoric seems taken straight from speeches by Viktor Orbán during the so-called migration emergency of 2015-16: "Our desire is for Europe to stay European, to regain its civilizational self-confidence." Even more ominously, the document claims that Europe's "financial downturn is overshadowed by the real and more stark prospect of civilizational erasure."

The entire section dedicated to Europe is steeped in decades of European right-wing ideology and propaganda. The EU and its migration policies are held responsible for "transforming the continent and creating conflict, suppression of free speech and suppression of dissent, plummeting birthrates, and erosion of sovereign identity and self-confidence." According to 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 certain European countries will have economic power and armed forces strong enough to be dependable allies." Indeed, the Trump administration believes that "in a matter of years at the latest, some NATO members will become majority non-European."

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

Foundational Theories of the Right-Wing

These points carry powerful overtones of two theories regarded as foundational for contemporary far-right circles. The first is Oswald Spengler's "The Decline of the West," whose thesis on the cyclical decline of civilizations was employed by the German far right to attack the "perversion" and "enfeeblement" of the democratic Weimar Republic. The second is "Le Grand Remplacement," published in 2011 by French novelist Renaud Camus, who translated long-existing "native" fears into a more overt conspiratorial narrative, accusing European elites of using immigration to substitute restive "indigenous" populations and bring in a more submissive and dependent electorate.

It is the nativist fantasy contained in both ideas that grants the Trump administration the right, if not the obligation, to interfere in European affairs, the document implies. And it is evident where it sees its allies: "The United States urges its political allies in Europe to advance this resurgence of national spirit, and the increasing clout of patriotic European parties in fact gives cause for great optimism."

The Goal: "Make Europe Great Again"

In other words, the US believes that it is essential to its national security to "Make Europe great again," and that the European far right is the only political force that can achieve this. Consequently, its "overarching strategy for Europe" focuses on "cultivating 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 restore their past glory" – a clear reference to Hungary and Italy.

While the document remains 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 right-wing speech – and not limited to 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 explicitly called a future ally, the Trump administration evidently does not regard Russia as an adversary either.

A Historical Precedent: The Monroe Doctrine

In a broader sense, 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 warned European powers not to meddle 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 involves the US "enlisting" countries worldwide that wish to help protect US national interests.

This is entirely new – recall 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 stance is serious. And if the document is too lengthy or imprecise 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 just an reluctant ally; it is a willing adversary. Now is time to act appropriately.