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On the exact date Donald Trump was presented with a custom-made "award for peace" from his recent friend, FIFA president "Johnny" Infantino, his administration published an equally ostentatious national security strategy. This fairly brief paper drips with pure Trump and Trumpism. It begins with the typically modest claim that the president has brought back "the United States and the globe – back from the brink of catastrophe and ruin."

Even though the strategy largely codifies the ongoing actions and statements of Trump and his cabinet, it must be taken as a serious caution for the world, and for the European continent specifically.

A Blueprint of Intervention and Civilizational Fear

The document advocates for an assertive form of foreign-policy interference where the US clearly sets the goal of "fostering European greatness." Its language seems lifted directly from addresses by Viktor Orbán during the so-called migration emergency of 2015-16: "We want Europe to stay European, to regain its civilizational self-assurance." Even more ominously, the document claims that Europe's "financial downturn is overshadowed by the genuine and more stark prospect of cultural extinction."

The whole section on Europe is steeped in decades of European right-wing ideology and propaganda. The EU and its migration policies are blamed for "changing the continent and creating conflict, censorship of free speech and stifling of dissent, cratering birthrates, and loss of sovereign identity and self-belief." According to the document, if "present trends 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 economies and armed forces powerful enough to be dependable allies." In fact, the Trump administration asserts that "in a matter of years at the latest, some NATO members will become predominantly non-European."

"U.S. foreign policy should continue to champion genuine democracy, freedom of expression, and proud commemorations of European nations’ individual character and history."

Foundational Ideas of the Right-Wing

These points carry powerful echoes of two concepts regarded as foundational for modern right-wing circles. The first is Oswald Spengler's "Der Untergang des Abendlandes," 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," published in 2011 by French novelist Renaud Camus, who transformed long-existing "native" fears into a more overt conspiratorial narrative, alleging European elites of using immigration to replace restive "indigenous" populations and import a more docile and dependent electorate.

It is the nativist fever dream contained in both ideas that gives the Trump administration the authority, if not the duty, to interfere in European affairs, the document suggests. And it is clear where it identifies its allies: "America encourages its ideological partners in Europe to advance this resurgence of national spirit, and the increasing influence of patriotic European parties in fact gives cause for great optimism."

The Objective: "Make Europe Great Again"

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 political force that can achieve this. Consequently, its "overarching strategy for Europe" focuses on "fostering opposition to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations" – understood as the far right – and "strengthening the robust nations of central, eastern, and southern Europe" – in particular "nations in agreement that want to restore their former greatness" – such as Hungary and Italy.

While the document remains unclear on implementation, it is obvious that a key aim is to push Europe to adopt a radical policy on freedom of speech, closer to the US model – particularly regarding right-wing speech – and not just on social media. Another is to normalize relations with Russia; or, as the document calls it, to "reestablish strategic stability with Russia." Although the country is not explicitly called a future ally, the Trump administration evidently does not treat Russia as an enemy 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 1823 policy of 1823. Proclaimed by President James Monroe, this warned European powers not to interfere in the "Americas," which he declared to be the US’s sphere of interest. 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 protect US national interests.

This is necessarily new – recall JD Vance’s address at the 2025 Munich Security Conference, where the vice-president launched an assault on Europe’s democratic model. But perhaps now that it is laid out in an formal document, European leaders will at last understand that the stance is grave. And if the document is too lengthy or imprecise for them, it can be condensed 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. Now is time to respond appropriately.