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On the exact day Donald Trump received a tailor-made "award for peace" from his recent friend, FIFA president "Gianni" Infantino, his government published an equally flamboyant national security strategy. This relatively brief paper drips with pure Trump and Trumpism. It opens with the characteristically modest claim that the president has brought back "the United States and the globe – back from the brink of catastrophe and disaster."

Even though the strategy largely formalizes the ongoing policies and statements of Trump and his team, it must be taken as a serious warning for the international community, and for Europe specifically.

A Strategy of Intervention and Civilizational Anxiety

The document advocates for an aggressive form of foreign-policy meddling where the US clearly sets the goal of "fostering European strength." Its rhetoric seems taken directly from speeches by Viktor Orbán during the much-discussed refugee crisis of 2015-16: "Our desire is for Europe to stay European, to regain its civilizational self-confidence." More worryingly, the document claims that Europe's "economic decline is eclipsed by the real and starker prospect of cultural extinction."

The entire section on Europe is imbued with decades of European far-right dogma and rhetoric. The EU and its migration policies are held responsible for "transforming the continent and causing conflict, suppression of free speech and stifling of political opposition, cratering birthrates, and loss of national identities and self-belief." Per the document, if "current trajectories continue, the continent will be unrecognisable in 20 years or less. As such, it is far from obvious whether certain European countries will have economic power and armed forces strong enough to remain reliable allies." Indeed, the Trump administration believes that "in a matter of years at the latest, certain NATO members will become majority non-European."

"American diplomacy should continue to stand up for genuine democracy, freedom of expression, and unapologetic commemorations of European nations’ unique heritage and history."

Core Ideas of the Far Right

These points carry powerful echoes of two theories seen as foundational for contemporary right-wing circles. The first is Oswald Spengler's "The Decline of the West," whose thesis on the inevitable fall of civilizations was employed by the German far right to criticise the "perversion" and "weakness" of the democratic Weimar Republic. The second is "The Great Replacement," published in 2011 by French novelist Renaud Camus, who translated long-existing "indigenous" fears into a more explicit conspiratorial narrative, accusing European elites of using immigration to replace rebellious "native" populations and bring in a more docile and reliant electorate.

It is the nationalist fantasy contained 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 evident where it sees its allies: "The United States encourages its political allies in Europe to promote this revival of spirit, and the growing clout of nationalist European parties in fact gives cause for significant hope."

The Objective: "Make Europe Great Again"

Put simply, the US contends that it is key to its national security to "Restore European strength," and that the European far right is the sole movement that can achieve this. Consequently, its "broad policy for Europe" focuses on "cultivating resistance to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations" – understood as the far right – and "building up the robust nations of central, eastern, and southern Europe" – in particular "aligned countries that want to restore their past glory" – a clear reference to Hungary and Italy.

While the document stays unclear on methods, it is apparent that a priority is to push Europe to adopt a sweeping policy on freedom of speech, closer to 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 phrases it, to "restore strategic stability with Russia." Although the country is not directly called a future ally, the Trump administration evidently does not regard Russia as an enemy either.

A Historical Precedent: The Monroe Doctrine

In a broader sense, the national security strategy takes its inspiration less from the glorified 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 "Americas," which he proclaimed 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 "enlisting" countries worldwide that wish to help safeguard US national interests.

None of this is entirely new – recall JD Vance’s speech at the 2025 Munich Security Conference, where the vice-president launched an ideological attack on Europe’s democratic model. But perhaps now that it is published in an formal document, European leaders will finally realize that the stance is serious. And if the document is too lengthy or vague for them, it can be condensed in plain and concise terms: the current US government holds that its national security is best served by the destruction of liberal democracy in Europe. In other words, the US is not only an unwilling ally; it is a deliberate adversary. Now is time to respond appropriately.