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On the very date Donald Trump received a tailor-made "peace prize" from his newest ally, FIFA president "Gianni" Infantino, his government released an similarly flamboyant national security strategy. This relatively short report drips with the essence of Trump and Trumpism. It begins with the characteristically humble assertion that the president has brought back "our nation – and the world – back from the brink of catastrophe and disaster."

Even though the strategy mostly codifies the ongoing actions and statements of Trump and his team, it must be heeded as a serious caution for the international community, and for Europe 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 "fostering European greatness." Its rhetoric could have been lifted directly from addresses by the Hungarian Prime Minister during the so-called refugee crisis of 2015-16: "We want Europe to stay European, to reclaim its civilizational self-assurance." More ominously, the document claims that Europe's "financial downturn is eclipsed by the real and more stark prospect of civilizational erasure."

The whole section on Europe is steeped in generations of European far-right dogma and rhetoric. The EU and its migration policies are blamed for "transforming the continent and causing strife, suppression of free speech and suppression of dissent, cratering birthrates, and loss of sovereign identity and self-confidence." Per the document, if "present trends 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 militaries powerful enough to be reliable allies." In fact, the Trump administration believes that "in a matter of years at the latest, some NATO members will become majority non-European."

"American diplomacy should continue to champion authentic democracy, free speech, and proud commemorations of European nations’ unique heritage and past."

Core Ideas of the Right-Wing

These points carry powerful echoes of two concepts seen as core for modern far-right circles. The first is Oswald Spengler's "Der Untergang des Abendlandes," whose thesis on the inevitable fall of civilizations was employed by the German far right to attack the "perversion" 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 explicit conspiracy theory, accusing European elites of using immigration to replace rebellious "native" populations and bring in a more submissive and reliant electorate.

It is the nativist fever dream contained in both ideas that grants the Trump administration the right, if not the obligation, to intervene in European affairs, the document suggests. And it is clear where it identifies its allies: "America encourages its political allies in Europe to advance this revival of spirit, and the increasing clout of nationalist European parties in fact gives cause for great optimism."

The Objective: "Make Europe Great Again"

In other words, the US believes that it is key to its national security to "Make Europe great again," and that the European far right is the sole movement that can accomplish this. Therefore, its "overarching strategy for Europe" focuses on "cultivating opposition to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations" – meaning the far right – and "building up the robust 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 vague on implementation, it is obvious that a priority is to push 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 clearly does not regard Russia as an adversary 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 Monroe Doctrine of 1823. Articulated by President James Monroe, this warned European powers not to interfere in the "western hemisphere," which he proclaimed to be the US’s sphere of interest. The Trump administration’s policy document promises to "implement a Trump addition" to the Monroe Doctrine, which involves the US "enlisting" countries worldwide that wish to help safeguard US national interests.

This is necessarily new – consider JD Vance’s speech at the 2025 Munich Security Conference, where the vice-president unleashed an assault on Europe’s democratic model. But perhaps now that it is laid out in an official document, European leaders will finally understand that the stance is serious. And if the document is too lengthy or vague for them, it can be summarised in clear and succinct 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 willing adversary. Now is time to respond accordingly.