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On the very day Donald Trump received a custom-made "award for peace" from his recent friend, FIFA president "Gianni" Infantino, his government released an similarly ostentatious security policy document. This fairly brief paper drips with pure Trump and Trumpism. It begins with the typically humble assertion that the president has rescued "the United States and the globe – back from the edge of disaster and ruin."

Even though the strategy mostly codifies the current policies and statements of Trump and his cabinet, it must be taken as a grave warning for the world, and for Europe in particular.

A Blueprint of Intervention and Civilizational Anxiety

The document advocates for an aggressive form of foreign-policy interference where the US clearly sets the goal of "fostering European greatness." Its rhetoric seems taken straight from speeches by Viktor Orbán during the much-discussed refugee crisis of 2015-16: "Our desire is for Europe to stay European, to reclaim its civilizational self-assurance." More ominously, the document states that Europe's "financial downturn is eclipsed by the genuine and more stark possibility of cultural extinction."

The whole section on Europe is steeped in decades of European far-right dogma and rhetoric. The EU and its migration policies are blamed for "changing the continent and causing strife, suppression of free expression and stifling of dissent, plummeting birthrates, and loss of sovereign identity and self-belief." Per the document, if "current trajectories 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 strong enough to be reliable allies." Indeed, the Trump administration asserts that "in a matter of years at the latest, certain NATO members will become predominantly non-European."

"American diplomacy should continue to champion genuine democracy, free speech, and unapologetic commemorations of European nations’ unique heritage and history."

Foundational Ideas of the Right-Wing

These arguments carry powerful overtones of two concepts regarded as foundational for modern right-wing circles. The first is Oswald Spengler's "The Decline of the West," whose argument on the cyclical decline of civilizations was used by the German far right to attack the "decadence" and "enfeeblement" of the democratic Weimar Republic. The second is "Le Grand Remplacement," released in 2011 by French novelist Renaud Camus, who transformed long-existing "native" fears into a more explicit conspiracy theory, accusing European elites of using immigration to replace restive "indigenous" populations and bring in a more docile and dependent 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: "America encourages its political allies in Europe to advance this revival of spirit, and the growing influence of nationalist 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 "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 "cultivating resistance to Europe’s present path within European nations" – meaning the far right – and "building up the healthy nations of central, eastern, and southern Europe" – specifically "aligned countries that want to restore their former greatness" – such as Hungary and Italy.

While the document stays vague on implementation, it is apparent that a key aim is to push Europe to adopt a radical policy on freedom of speech, more aligned with the US model – particularly regarding right-wing speech – and not limited to social media. Another is to normalize 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 clearly does not regard 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. Proclaimed by President James Monroe, this cautioned European powers not to meddle in the "Americas," which he declared to be the US’s sphere of interest. The Trump administration’s policy document promises to "assert and enforce a Trump addition" to the Monroe Doctrine, which entails the US "enlisting" countries worldwide that wish to help protect US national interests.

None of this is entirely 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 official document, European leaders will at last understand that the situation is serious. And if the document is too long or vague for them, it can be condensed in plain and succinct terms: the current US government holds that its national security is most enhanced by the destruction 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.