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On the very day Donald Trump was presented with a custom-made "award for peace" from his recent ally, FIFA president "Johnny" Infantino, his administration released an equally flamboyant national security strategy. This fairly short report is saturated with pure Trump and Trumpism. It opens with the typically humble assertion that the president has brought back "the United States and the globe – back from the edge of catastrophe and disaster."

Even though the document mostly codifies the current actions and rhetoric of Trump and his cabinet, it must be taken as a serious warning for the international community, and for the European continent in particular.

A Blueprint of Interference and Civilizational Anxiety

The document advocates for an aggressive form of foreign-policy meddling where the US explicitly sets the goal of "promoting European greatness." Its rhetoric seems lifted directly from addresses by Viktor Orbán during the so-called refugee crisis of 2015-16: "We want Europe to remain European, to regain its cultural self-confidence." More ominously, the document claims that Europe's "economic decline is eclipsed by the real and more stark prospect of civilizational erasure."

The whole section dedicated to Europe is steeped in generations of European right-wing dogma and propaganda. The EU and its migration policies are held responsible for "transforming the continent and creating strife, censorship of free expression and suppression of dissent, plummeting birthrates, and loss of sovereign identity and self-confidence." According to the document, if "present trends 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 economies and militaries powerful enough to remain dependable allies." In fact, the Trump administration asserts that "in a matter of years at the latest, some NATO members will become majority non-European."

"U.S. foreign policy should continue to champion authentic democracy, free speech, and proud commemorations of European nations’ unique heritage and past."

Foundational Ideas of the Right-Wing

These arguments carry powerful overtones of two theories seen as foundational for contemporary right-wing circles. The first is Oswald Spengler's "The Decline of the West," whose thesis on the cyclical decline of civilizations was used by the German far right to criticise the "perversion" and "enfeeblement" of the democratic Weimar Republic. The second is "The Great Replacement," published in 2011 by French novelist Renaud Camus, who translated long-existing "indigenous" fears into a more explicit conspiratorial narrative, alleging European elites of using immigration to replace restive "indigenous" populations and bring in a more submissive and dependent electorate.

It is the nationalist fantasy encapsulated in both ideas that gives 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: "The United States urges its ideological partners in Europe to advance this revival of spirit, and the growing 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 "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 opposition to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations" – understood as the far right – and "strengthening the robust nations of central, eastern, and southern Europe" – in particular "aligned countries that want to reclaim their past glory" – a clear reference to Hungary and Italy.

While the document stays unclear on methods, it is obvious that a key aim is to pressure Europe to adopt a sweeping policy on freedom of speech, more aligned with the US model – particularly regarding far-right speech – and not just on social media. Another is to normalise 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 evidently does not treat Russia as an adversary either.

An Ideological Precedent: 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 1823 policy 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 zone of influence. The Trump administration’s policy document vows 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.

This is entirely 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 at last realize that the situation is grave. And if the document is too long or vague for them, it can be summarised in plain and concise terms: the current US government believes that its national security is most enhanced by the demise of liberal democracy in Europe. To put it bluntly, the US is not just an unwilling ally; it is a willing adversary. Now is time to respond appropriately.