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On the very date Donald Trump received a tailor-made "award for peace" from his newest ally, FIFA president "Johnny" Infantino, his government released an equally ostentatious security policy document. This relatively brief paper drips with pure Trump and Trumpism. It begins with the typically humble assertion that the president has rescued "our nation – and the world – back from the brink of disaster and disaster."

Even though the strategy largely formalizes the current actions and rhetoric of Trump and his cabinet, it must be taken as a grave caution for the international community, and for Europe in particular.

A Strategy of Intervention and Cultural Anxiety

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 the Hungarian Prime Minister during the much-discussed migration emergency of 2015-16: "Our desire is for Europe to stay European, to reclaim its civilizational self-assurance." Even more worryingly, the document states that Europe's "financial downturn is overshadowed by the genuine and starker prospect of cultural extinction."

The entire section dedicated to Europe is imbued with decades of European far-right ideology and rhetoric. The EU and its migration policies are blamed for "changing the continent and creating strife, suppression of free expression and stifling of dissent, plummeting birthrates, and erosion of national identities and self-confidence." 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 some European countries will have economies and militaries strong enough to be dependable allies." In fact, the Trump administration asserts that "within a few decades at the latest, certain NATO members will become majority non-European."

"U.S. foreign policy should continue to champion genuine democracy, free speech, and unapologetic celebrations of European nations’ unique heritage and history."

Foundational Theories of the Right-Wing

These points carry strong echoes of two concepts regarded as foundational for contemporary right-wing 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 "decadence" 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 overt 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 nativist fantasy contained in both ideas that gives the Trump administration the authority, if not the duty, to intervene in European affairs, the document suggests. And it is clear where it identifies its allies: "The United States encourages its ideological partners in Europe to promote this resurgence of spirit, and the growing influence of nationalist European parties indeed gives cause for great optimism."

The Goal: "Restore European Greatness"

In other words, the US believes that it is key to its national security to "Make Europe great again," and that the European far right is the only movement that can accomplish this. Consequently, its "overarching strategy for Europe" focuses on "cultivating opposition to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations" – understood as the far right – and "strengthening the healthy nations of central, eastern, and southern Europe" – in particular "aligned countries that want to restore their former greatness" – such as Hungary and Italy.

While the document remains unclear on implementation, it is obvious that a priority is to pressure Europe to adopt a radical policy on freedom of speech, closer to the US model – particularly 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.

A Historical Blueprint: The Monroe Doctrine

In a broader sense, the national security strategy draws its ideas less from the idealized US of the 1950s and more from the 1823 policy of 1823. Proclaimed by President James Monroe, this warned European powers not to interfere in the "Americas," which he proclaimed 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 protect US national interests.

None of this is entirely new – recall JD Vance’s speech at the 2025 Munich Security Conference, where the vice-president launched an ideological attack on Europe’s democratic model. But maybe now that it is published in an formal document, European leaders will finally realize that the stance 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 destruction of liberal democracy in Europe. To put it bluntly, the US is not only an reluctant ally; it is a willing adversary. It is time to act appropriately.