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On the exact date Donald Trump received a tailor-made "peace prize" from his recent ally, FIFA president "Johnny" Infantino, his government published an similarly ostentatious national security strategy. This relatively brief report is saturated with pure Trump and Trumpism. It opens with the characteristically humble assertion that the president has brought back "the United States and the globe – back from the edge of disaster and disaster."

Even though the document largely formalizes the current actions and rhetoric of Trump and his team, it must be heeded as a grave warning for the international community, and for the European continent in particular.

A Blueprint of Interference and Cultural Anxiety

The document advocates for an aggressive form of foreign-policy interference where the US explicitly sets the goal of "fostering European strength." Its rhetoric seems lifted straight from addresses by the Hungarian Prime Minister during the much-discussed refugee crisis of 2015-16: "Our desire is for Europe to remain European, to reclaim its cultural self-confidence." Even more ominously, the document claims that Europe's "financial downturn is eclipsed by the real and starker prospect of cultural extinction."

The entire section dedicated to Europe is steeped in generations of European right-wing dogma and propaganda. The EU and its migration policies are blamed for "changing the continent and causing conflict, censorship of free speech and stifling of dissent, plummeting birthrates, and erosion of national identities and self-confidence." 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 economies and militaries strong enough to remain dependable allies." Indeed, the Trump administration asserts that "within a few decades at the latest, some NATO members will become predominantly non-European."

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

Core Theories of the Far Right

These arguments carry powerful echoes of two concepts regarded as core for modern right-wing 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 "decadence" 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 "indigenous" fears into a more explicit conspiracy theory, accusing European elites of using immigration to substitute restive "indigenous" populations and import a more submissive and dependent electorate.

It is the nativist fever dream contained in both ideas that grants 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 ideological partners in Europe to promote this revival of national spirit, and the growing influence of nationalist European parties in fact gives cause for great optimism."

The Objective: "Make Europe Great Again"

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 only movement that can accomplish this. Therefore, its "broad policy for Europe" prioritises "fostering 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 "nations in agreement that want to reclaim their former greatness" – such as Hungary and Italy.

While the document stays unclear on methods, it is apparent that a key aim is to push Europe to adopt a radical policy on freedom of speech, closer to the US model – especially regarding far-right speech – and not limited to social media. Another is to normalise relations with Russia; or, as the document phrases it, to "reestablish strategic stability with Russia." Although the country is not directly called a future ally, the Trump administration evidently does not treat Russia as an adversary 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. Articulated by President James Monroe, this warned European powers not to meddle in the "Americas," which he declared to be the US’s zone of influence. The Trump administration’s policy document promises to "implement a Trump addition" to the Monroe Doctrine, which involves the US "recruiting" countries worldwide that wish to help protect US national interests.

This is entirely new – consider JD Vance’s address at the 2025 Munich Security Conference, where the vice-president unleashed 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 serious. 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 most enhanced by the demise of liberal democracy in Europe. In other words, the US is not just an reluctant ally; it is a deliberate adversary. Now is time to act appropriately.