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On the exact date Donald Trump was presented with a custom-made "peace prize" from his newest friend, FIFA president "Johnny" Infantino, his government published an similarly flamboyant national security strategy. This fairly short report is saturated with pure Trump and Trumpism. It opens with the typically humble assertion that the president has brought back "the United States and the globe – back from the edge of catastrophe and disaster."

Even though the strategy largely formalizes the current actions and statements of Trump and his team, it must be heeded as a serious warning for the world, and for Europe in particular.

A Strategy of Intervention and Civilizational Anxiety

The document espouses an assertive form of foreign-policy interference where the US explicitly sets the goal of "promoting European strength." Its language seems taken directly from speeches by the Hungarian Prime Minister during the so-called migration emergency of 2015-16: "Our desire is for Europe to stay European, to reclaim its civilizational self-confidence." More worryingly, the document claims that Europe's "financial downturn is eclipsed by the real and starker possibility of civilizational erasure."

The whole section dedicated to Europe is imbued with generations 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 expression and suppression of dissent, cratering birthrates, and erosion of sovereign identity and self-belief." Per 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 some European countries will have economic power and armed forces strong enough to be reliable allies." In fact, the Trump administration believes that "in a matter of years at the latest, certain NATO members will become majority non-European."

"U.S. foreign policy should continue to stand up for authentic democracy, free speech, and proud celebrations of European nations’ unique heritage and history."

Core Theories of the Far Right

These points carry powerful echoes of two concepts regarded as core for contemporary right-wing circles. The first is Oswald Spengler's "Der Untergang des Abendlandes," whose thesis on the inevitable fall of civilizations was used by the German far right to attack the "perversion" and "weakness" of the democratic Weimar Republic. The second is "Le Grand Remplacement," published in 2011 by French novelist Renaud Camus, who transformed long-existing "indigenous" fears into a more explicit conspiracy theory, accusing European elites of using immigration to substitute rebellious "native" populations and bring in a more submissive and reliant electorate.

It is the nativist fantasy contained in both ideas that grants the Trump administration the authority, if not the obligation, to interfere in European affairs, the document implies. And it is clear where it sees its allies: "The United States encourages its political allies in Europe to advance this resurgence of spirit, and the increasing influence of nationalist European parties indeed gives cause for great optimism."

The Objective: "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 sole 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 "building up the robust nations of central, eastern, and southern Europe" – specifically "nations in agreement that want to restore their past glory" – a clear reference to Hungary and Italy.

While the document remains unclear on methods, it is obvious that a key aim is to pressure Europe to adopt a sweeping policy on freedom of speech, closer to the US model – especially regarding far-right speech – and not limited to 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 directly called a future ally, the Trump administration evidently does not regard Russia as an enemy either.

An Ideological Blueprint: The Monroe Doctrine

In a broader sense, the national security strategy draws its ideas 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 interfere in the "Americas," 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 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 published in an official document, European leaders will finally understand that the stance is grave. 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 most enhanced by the destruction 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 respond appropriately.