🔗 Share this article

On the exact date Donald Trump received a tailor-made "award for peace" from his recent friend, FIFA president "Gianni" Infantino, his administration published an similarly flamboyant security policy document. This fairly brief paper is saturated with pure Trump and Trumpism. It opens with the typically modest claim that the president has rescued "the United States and the globe – back from the brink of catastrophe and ruin."

Even though the strategy largely codifies the current policies and statements of Trump and his cabinet, it must be taken as a serious warning for the world, and for the European continent specifically.

A Blueprint of Intervention and Cultural Anxiety

The document espouses an assertive form of foreign-policy interference where the US explicitly sets the goal of "fostering European greatness." Its language could have been lifted straight from addresses by the Hungarian Prime Minister during the much-discussed refugee crisis of 2015-16: "We want Europe to stay European, to regain its cultural self-assurance." More ominously, the document claims that Europe's "financial downturn is overshadowed by the genuine and starker prospect of cultural extinction."

The whole section on Europe is steeped in generations of European far-right dogma and propaganda. The EU and its migration policies are held responsible for "changing the continent and creating conflict, censorship of free expression and stifling of dissent, plummeting birthrates, and loss of national identities and self-confidence." 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 some European countries will have economic power 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 majority non-European."

"American diplomacy should continue to stand up for authentic democracy, free speech, and unapologetic celebrations of European nations’ unique heritage and history."

Foundational Ideas of the Right-Wing

These points carry powerful echoes of two theories regarded 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 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 transformed long-existing "native" fears into a more explicit conspiratorial narrative, alleging European elites of using immigration to substitute restive "indigenous" populations and bring in a more submissive and dependent electorate.

It is the nativist fantasy encapsulated in both ideas that grants the Trump administration the authority, if not the obligation, to interfere in European affairs, the document suggests. And it is clear where it sees its allies: "America urges its political allies in Europe to advance this revival of national spirit, and the increasing clout of patriotic European parties in fact gives cause for great optimism."

The Objective: "Restore European Greatness"

Put simply, the US contends 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 "strengthening the healthy nations of central, eastern, and southern Europe" – in particular "aligned countries that want to restore their former greatness" – a clear reference to Hungary and Italy.

While the document stays vague on methods, it is obvious that a key aim is to pressure Europe to adopt a radical policy on freedom of speech, more aligned with the US model – especially regarding right-wing speech – and not limited to social media. Another is to normalize relations with Russia; or, as the document calls it, to "restore strategic stability with Russia." Although the country is not explicitly called a future ally, the Trump administration evidently does not regard Russia as an adversary either.

An Ideological Blueprint: The Monroe Doctrine

In a broader sense, 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 warned European powers not to interfere in the "western hemisphere," which he declared to be the US’s sphere of interest. The Trump administration’s policy document vows to "implement a Trump addition" to the Monroe Doctrine, which involves the US "recruiting" countries worldwide that wish to help protect US national interests.

None of this is necessarily new – recall 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 published in an official document, European leaders will finally understand that the situation is grave. And if the document is too long or vague for them, it can be summarised in clear and succinct 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.