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On the exact day Donald Trump was presented with a custom-made "peace prize" from his newest friend, FIFA president "Gianni" Infantino, his administration released an equally flamboyant national security strategy. This relatively brief paper is saturated with the essence of Trump and Trumpism. It begins with the typically modest assertion that the president has rescued "our nation – and the world – back from the edge of catastrophe and disaster."

Even though the strategy largely codifies the current actions and rhetoric of Trump and his cabinet, it must be heeded as a serious warning for the international community, and for the European continent in particular.

A Blueprint of Interference and Civilizational Fear

The document espouses an aggressive form of foreign-policy meddling where the US clearly sets the goal of "promoting European strength." Its language seems lifted directly from speeches by Viktor Orbán during the so-called refugee crisis 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 eclipsed by the genuine and more stark prospect of cultural extinction."

The entire section on Europe is imbued with decades of European right-wing ideology and rhetoric. The EU and its migration policies are held responsible for "changing the continent and creating conflict, suppression of free expression and suppression of dissent, plummeting birthrates, and loss of national identities and self-belief." Per the document, if "present trends continue, the continent will be unrecognisable in 20 years or less. As such, it is not at all clear whether certain European countries will have economic power and militaries powerful enough to be reliable allies." Indeed, the Trump administration believes 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 genuine democracy, freedom of expression, and unapologetic celebrations of European nations’ individual character and history."

Foundational Ideas of the Far Right

These arguments 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 inevitable fall of civilizations was used by the German far right to criticise the "perversion" and "weakness" of the democratic Weimar Republic. The second is "The Great Replacement," released in 2011 by French novelist Renaud Camus, who translated long-existing "indigenous" fears into a more explicit conspiratorial narrative, alleging European elites of using immigration to replace restive "indigenous" populations and import a more docile and reliant electorate.

It is the nativist fever dream 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 identifies its allies: "America encourages its ideological partners in Europe to promote this resurgence of spirit, and the growing influence of patriotic European parties in fact gives cause for significant hope."

The Goal: "Make Europe Great Again"

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 sole movement that can accomplish this. Consequently, its "overarching strategy for Europe" focuses on "fostering resistance to Europe’s present path within European nations" – understood as the far right – and "building up the healthy 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 stays unclear on methods, it is obvious that a priority is to pressure 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 clearly does not treat Russia as an enemy 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 1823 policy of 1823. Articulated by President James Monroe, this warned European powers not to meddle in the "western hemisphere," which he proclaimed to be the US’s zone of influence. The Trump administration’s policy document promises to "assert and enforce a Trump addition" to the Monroe Doctrine, which entails the US "recruiting" countries worldwide that wish to help protect US national interests.

This is necessarily new – consider JD Vance’s address at the 2025 Munich Security Conference, where the vice-president unleashed an assault on Europe’s democratic model. But perhaps now that it is published in an formal document, European leaders will finally understand that the situation is grave. 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 demise of liberal democracy in Europe. In other words, the US is not only an reluctant ally; it is a willing adversary. It is time to respond appropriately.