🔗 Share this article

On the exact day Donald Trump was presented with a tailor-made "award for peace" from his newest ally, FIFA president "Johnny" Infantino, his administration published an equally ostentatious national security strategy. This relatively short report drips with pure Trump and Trumpism. It opens with the characteristically modest assertion that the president has brought back "our nation – and the world – back from the edge of catastrophe and ruin."

Even though the document mostly formalizes the current policies and rhetoric of Trump and his team, it must be heeded as a serious warning for the world, and for Europe in particular.

A Blueprint of Intervention and Cultural Anxiety

The document advocates for an aggressive form of foreign-policy meddling where the US clearly sets the goal of "fostering European strength." Its language seems taken directly from speeches by Viktor Orbán during the so-called migration emergency of 2015-16: "We want Europe to stay European, to reclaim its cultural self-confidence." Even more ominously, the document claims that Europe's "financial downturn is eclipsed by the genuine and more stark prospect of civilizational erasure."

The whole section dedicated to Europe is imbued with decades of European right-wing ideology and rhetoric. The EU and its migration policies are blamed for "transforming the continent and creating conflict, censorship of free speech and suppression of dissent, cratering birthrates, and loss of sovereign identity and self-confidence." According to the document, if "present trends 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 powerful enough to remain dependable allies." Indeed, the Trump administration believes that "in a matter of years at the latest, some NATO members will become predominantly non-European."

"American diplomacy should continue to stand up for genuine democracy, freedom of expression, and proud commemorations of European nations’ unique heritage and past."

Foundational Ideas of the Far Right

These points carry strong overtones of two concepts seen as foundational for contemporary far-right circles. The first is Oswald Spengler's "Der Untergang des Abendlandes," whose argument on the cyclical decline of civilizations was employed by the German far right to attack the "perversion" and "enfeeblement" of the democratic Weimar Republic. The second is "The Great Replacement," published 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 replace rebellious "native" populations and bring in a more submissive and reliant electorate.

It is the nativist fever dream encapsulated in both ideas that gives the Trump administration the authority, if not the obligation, to intervene in European affairs, the document implies. And it is clear where it identifies its allies: "The United States encourages its political allies in Europe to advance this revival of spirit, and the growing influence of nationalist European parties in fact gives cause for great optimism."

The Goal: "Make Europe Great Again"

In other words, the US believes 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 achieve this. Therefore, its "broad policy for Europe" prioritises "cultivating opposition to Europe’s present path within European nations" – meaning the far right – and "building up the robust nations of central, eastern, and southern Europe" – in particular "nations in agreement that want to reclaim their former greatness" – a clear reference to Hungary and Italy.

While the document stays unclear on methods, it is apparent that a priority is to push Europe to adopt a radical 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 "restore strategic stability with Russia." Although the country is not explicitly called a future ally, the Trump administration clearly does not treat Russia as an adversary either.

A Historical Blueprint: The Monroe Doctrine

In a wider context, the national security strategy takes its inspiration less from the glorified 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 zone of influence. The Trump administration’s policy document vows to "assert and enforce a Trump corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine, which entails the US "enlisting" countries worldwide that wish to help safeguard US national interests.

None of 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 perhaps now that it is laid out in an formal document, European leaders will at last understand that the situation is grave. And if the document is too long or imprecise for them, it can be condensed 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. In other words, the US is not just an unwilling ally; it is a deliberate adversary. Now is time to respond appropriately.