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On the very day Donald Trump received a tailor-made "award for peace" from his newest friend, FIFA president "Johnny" Infantino, his administration released an similarly ostentatious national security strategy. This relatively short report is saturated with the essence of Trump and Trumpism. It opens with the characteristically modest claim that the president has brought back "our nation – and the world – back from the edge of catastrophe and disaster."

Even though the document mostly formalizes the ongoing actions and statements of Trump and his team, it must be heeded as a grave warning for the world, and for the European continent specifically.

A Blueprint of Interference and Civilizational Fear

The document espouses an aggressive form of foreign-policy interference where the US explicitly sets the goal of "promoting European greatness." Its language seems taken straight from speeches by Viktor Orbán during the so-called refugee crisis of 2015-16: "We want Europe to remain European, to regain its cultural self-assurance." Even more worryingly, the document states that Europe's "economic decline is eclipsed by the genuine and more stark possibility of civilizational erasure."

The entire section on Europe is steeped in decades of European right-wing dogma and rhetoric. 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 erosion of sovereign identity and self-belief." Per the document, if "present trends continue, the continent will be unrecognizable in 20 years or less. As such, it is far from obvious whether certain 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, some NATO members will become majority non-European."

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

Foundational Theories of the Right-Wing

These points carry powerful overtones of two theories regarded as foundational for contemporary right-wing circles. The first is Oswald Spengler's "Der Untergang des Abendlandes," whose thesis on the inevitable fall of civilizations was used by the German far right to attack the "perversion" and "enfeeblement" of the democratic Weimar Republic. The second is "Le Grand Remplacement," published in 2011 by French novelist Renaud Camus, who translated long-existing "native" fears into a more explicit conspiracy theory, alleging European elites of using immigration to replace restive "indigenous" populations and import a more submissive and dependent electorate.

It is the nativist fantasy contained in both ideas that gives the Trump administration the authority, if not the obligation, to interfere in European affairs, the document implies. And it is evident where it identifies its allies: "The United States urges its ideological partners in Europe to advance this revival of spirit, and the increasing influence of patriotic European parties in fact gives cause for great optimism."

The Goal: "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 sole movement that can accomplish this. Therefore, its "broad policy for Europe" focuses on "fostering resistance to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations" – meaning the far right – and "building up 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 methods, it is apparent that a key aim is to push Europe to adopt a sweeping 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 calls it, to "reestablish strategic stability with Russia." Although the country is not explicitly called a future ally, the Trump administration clearly does not regard Russia as an adversary either.

A Historical Blueprint: The Monroe Doctrine

In a broader sense, the national security strategy draws its ideas 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 "Americas," which he declared to be the US’s zone of influence. The Trump administration’s policy document promises 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 – recall JD Vance’s address at the 2025 Munich Security Conference, where the vice-president unleashed an ideological attack on Europe’s democratic model. But maybe now that it is published in an formal document, European leaders will at last realize 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 holds that its national security is most enhanced by the destruction 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 accordingly.