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On the very day Donald Trump was presented with a tailor-made "award for peace" from his newest ally, FIFA president "Johnny" Infantino, his government published an equally flamboyant security policy document. This fairly short paper drips with the essence of Trump and Trumpism. It opens with the characteristically modest claim that the president has rescued "our nation – and the world – back from the edge of disaster and ruin."

Even though the strategy mostly formalizes the ongoing actions and statements of Trump and his cabinet, it must be taken as a grave caution for the world, and for Europe specifically.

A Strategy of Intervention and Civilizational Anxiety

The document advocates for an aggressive form of foreign-policy interference where the US explicitly sets the goal of "promoting European strength." Its rhetoric seems lifted straight from speeches by Viktor Orbán during the much-discussed migration emergency of 2015-16: "We want Europe to remain European, to regain its cultural self-confidence." Even more worryingly, the document claims that Europe's "financial downturn is overshadowed by the real and starker prospect of civilizational erasure."

The entire section dedicated to Europe is imbued with decades of European far-right ideology and rhetoric. The EU and its migration policies are blamed for "changing the continent and creating strife, suppression of free speech and suppression of dissent, cratering birthrates, and erosion 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 economies and armed forces strong enough to remain reliable allies." In fact, the Trump administration asserts that "within a few decades at the latest, certain NATO members will become predominantly non-European."

"American diplomacy should continue to champion genuine democracy, free speech, and proud celebrations of European nations’ individual character and history."

Foundational Ideas of the Right-Wing

These arguments carry powerful overtones of two theories regarded as foundational for modern far-right circles. The first is Oswald Spengler's "The Decline of the West," whose argument on the cyclical decline of civilizations was employed by the German far right to criticise the "decadence" and "enfeeblement" of the democratic Weimar Republic. The second is "The Great Replacement," released in 2011 by French novelist Renaud Camus, who transformed long-existing "indigenous" fears into a more overt 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 nativist fever dream encapsulated in both ideas that grants the Trump administration the right, if not the duty, to interfere in European affairs, the document suggests. And it is clear where it sees its allies: "America urges its ideological partners in Europe to advance this revival of national spirit, and the growing influence 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 "Make Europe great again," and that the European far right is the only political force that can accomplish this. Consequently, its "overarching strategy for Europe" prioritises "cultivating resistance to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations" – meaning the far right – and "building up the robust nations of central, eastern, and southern Europe" – specifically "aligned countries that want to reclaim 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 pressure Europe to adopt a sweeping policy on freedom of speech, more aligned with the US model – especially regarding far-right speech – and not just on social media. Another is to normalize relations with Russia; or, as the document phrases it, to "reestablish strategic stability with Russia." Although the country is not explicitly called a future ally, the Trump administration clearly does not treat Russia as an adversary either.

An Ideological 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 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 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 protect US national interests.

This is necessarily 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 realize that the stance is grave. And if the document is too lengthy or imprecise for them, it can be condensed in plain and succinct terms: the current US government believes that its national security is most enhanced by the demise of liberal democracy in Europe. To put it bluntly, the US is not only an reluctant ally; it is a deliberate adversary. Now is time to act appropriately.