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On the very date Donald Trump received a custom-made "peace prize" from his recent ally, FIFA president "Johnny" Infantino, his administration released an similarly flamboyant security policy document. This fairly short report drips with pure Trump and Trumpism. It opens with the typically humble claim that the president has brought back "our nation – and the world – back from the brink of catastrophe and ruin."

Even though the strategy largely formalizes the current policies and statements of Trump and his team, it must be taken as a serious warning for the international community, and for Europe specifically.

A Strategy of Intervention and Cultural Fear

The document espouses an aggressive form of foreign-policy meddling where the US clearly sets the goal of "fostering European strength." Its rhetoric seems taken straight from speeches by Viktor Orbán during the much-discussed migration emergency of 2015-16: "Our desire is for Europe to remain European, to reclaim its cultural self-confidence." Even more worryingly, the document claims that Europe's "financial downturn is overshadowed by the real and more stark prospect of cultural extinction."

The whole section on Europe is imbued with generations of European right-wing dogma and rhetoric. The EU and its migration policies are blamed for "changing the continent and causing conflict, suppression of free speech and stifling of dissent, cratering birthrates, and erosion of national identities and self-confidence." According to 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 armed forces strong enough to remain dependable allies." Indeed, the Trump administration asserts that "in a matter of years at the latest, certain NATO members will become majority non-European."

"American diplomacy should continue to champion authentic democracy, freedom of expression, and proud commemorations of European nations’ individual character and history."

Foundational Theories of the Right-Wing

These arguments carry strong echoes of two concepts seen as foundational for modern far-right circles. The first is Oswald Spengler's "Der Untergang des Abendlandes," whose thesis on the cyclical decline of civilizations was employed by the German far right to criticise 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 overt conspiratorial narrative, alleging European elites of using immigration to substitute restive "native" populations and bring in a more submissive and dependent electorate.

It is the nativist fantasy encapsulated in both ideas that gives the Trump administration the authority, if not the duty, to intervene in European affairs, the document implies. And it is evident where it identifies its allies: "America encourages its political allies in Europe to advance this resurgence of spirit, and the increasing clout of nationalist European parties indeed gives cause for significant hope."

The Goal: "Restore European Greatness"

In other words, the US contends that it is key to its national security to "Restore European strength," and that the European far right is the sole movement that can accomplish this. Therefore, its "overarching strategy for Europe" prioritises "cultivating resistance to Europe’s present path within European nations" – understood as the far right – and "strengthening the healthy nations of central, eastern, and southern Europe" – in particular "aligned countries that want to restore their past glory" – such as Hungary and Italy.

While the document remains unclear on implementation, it is apparent that a priority is to push Europe to adopt a sweeping policy on freedom of speech, more aligned with the US model – especially 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.

A Historical Blueprint: The Monroe Doctrine

In a wider context, 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 cautioned European powers not to meddle in the "Americas," which he proclaimed to be the US’s sphere of interest. The Trump administration’s policy document vows 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 launched an assault on Europe’s democratic model. But maybe now that it is laid out in an official document, European leaders will finally understand that the stance is grave. And if the document is too long or imprecise for them, it can be condensed in plain and succinct terms: the current US government believes 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 act accordingly.