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On the exact day Donald Trump was presented with a custom-made "award for peace" from his newest ally, FIFA president "Johnny" Infantino, his government released an similarly ostentatious national security strategy. This relatively brief paper drips 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 strategy mostly formalizes the current actions 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 advocates for an assertive form of foreign-policy meddling where the US explicitly sets the goal of "promoting European greatness." Its rhetoric could have been lifted straight from speeches by the Hungarian Prime Minister during the so-called migration emergency of 2015-16: "We want Europe to remain European, to reclaim its civilizational self-assurance." More worryingly, the document claims that Europe's "economic decline is eclipsed by the genuine and starker possibility of civilizational erasure."

The entire section on Europe is imbued with decades of European far-right dogma and rhetoric. The EU and its migration policies are held responsible for "changing the continent and causing conflict, suppression of free speech and stifling of dissent, plummeting birthrates, and loss of sovereign identity and self-confidence." According to the document, if "current trajectories continue, the continent will be unrecognizable in 20 years or less. As such, it is far from obvious whether some European countries will have economies and militaries powerful enough to be dependable allies." Indeed, 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 champion authentic democracy, freedom of expression, and unapologetic commemorations of European nations’ individual character and past."

Foundational Theories of the Far Right

These arguments carry strong overtones of two theories seen as foundational for contemporary far-right circles. The first is Oswald Spengler's "The Decline of the West," whose argument 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 conspiracy theory, accusing European elites of using immigration to substitute restive "indigenous" populations and bring in a more submissive and reliant electorate.

It is the nativist fever dream contained in both ideas that gives the Trump administration the authority, if not the duty, to interfere in European affairs, the document implies. And it is clear where it sees its allies: "America urges its ideological partners in Europe to advance this resurgence of national spirit, and the growing influence of nationalist European parties indeed gives cause for great optimism."

The Objective: "Make Europe Great Again"

In other words, the US contends that it is essential to its national security to "Make Europe great again," and that the European far right is the sole political force that can accomplish this. Consequently, its "overarching strategy for Europe" prioritises "cultivating opposition to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations" – understood as the far right – and "building up the robust nations of central, eastern, and southern Europe" – specifically "aligned countries that want to reclaim their past glory" – a clear reference to Hungary and Italy.

While the document remains vague on implementation, it is apparent that a priority is to push Europe to adopt a sweeping policy on freedom of speech, closer to 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.

A Historical Precedent: The Monroe Doctrine

In a wider context, the national security strategy draws its ideas less from the glorified US of the 1950s and more from the Monroe Doctrine of 1823. Articulated by President James Monroe, this cautioned European powers not to meddle in the "western hemisphere," which he declared to be the US’s zone of influence. The Trump administration’s policy document vows to "implement a Trump addition" to the Monroe Doctrine, which involves the US "enlisting" countries worldwide that wish to help safeguard 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 ideological attack on Europe’s democratic model. But perhaps now that it is laid out in an formal document, European leaders will at last realize that the situation is grave. And if the document is too long or imprecise for them, it can be summarised in clear and succinct terms: the current US government believes that its national security is best served by the demise of liberal democracy in Europe. To put it bluntly, the US is not just an unwilling ally; it is a deliberate adversary. It is time to respond accordingly.