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On the exact day Donald Trump was presented with a custom-made "peace prize" from his recent friend, FIFA president "Gianni" Infantino, his administration published an equally flamboyant security policy document. This fairly brief report drips with the essence of Trump and Trumpism. It opens with the typically modest assertion that the president has rescued "the United States and the globe – back from the brink of disaster and disaster."

Even though the strategy mostly formalizes the current actions and rhetoric of Trump and his team, it must be taken as a grave caution for the international community, and for the European continent in particular.

A Blueprint of Intervention and Cultural Anxiety

The document advocates for an assertive form of foreign-policy interference where the US clearly sets the goal of "promoting European greatness." Its language could have been taken directly from addresses by the Hungarian Prime Minister during the much-discussed migration emergency of 2015-16: "We want Europe to stay European, to regain its civilizational self-confidence." Even more ominously, the document claims that Europe's "financial downturn is eclipsed by the genuine and starker prospect of civilizational erasure."

The whole section on Europe is imbued with generations of European far-right dogma and rhetoric. The EU and its migration policies are blamed for "transforming the continent and creating strife, suppression of free speech and stifling of dissent, cratering birthrates, and loss of sovereign identity and self-belief." 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 strong enough to be reliable allies." In fact, the Trump administration believes that "in a matter of years at the latest, certain NATO members will become majority non-European."

"American diplomacy should continue to champion authentic democracy, freedom of expression, and proud commemorations of European nations’ unique heritage and past."

Foundational Theories of the Far Right

These arguments carry powerful overtones of two concepts seen as core 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 attack the "decadence" and "weakness" of the democratic Weimar Republic. The second is "The Great Replacement," released in 2011 by French novelist Renaud Camus, who transformed long-existing "native" fears into a more explicit conspiracy theory, accusing European elites of using immigration to substitute restive "indigenous" populations and import a more submissive and dependent 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 identifies its allies: "The United States encourages its political allies in Europe to promote this revival of national spirit, and the increasing influence of patriotic European parties indeed gives cause for significant hope."

The Objective: "Make Europe Great Again"

In other words, the US contends that it is essential to its national security to "Restore European strength," and that the European far right is the only political force that can accomplish this. Therefore, its "broad policy for Europe" focuses on "fostering opposition to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations" – meaning the far right – and "strengthening the healthy nations of central, eastern, and southern Europe" – in particular "nations in agreement that want to reclaim their past glory" – a clear reference to Hungary and Italy.

While the document remains unclear on implementation, it is apparent that a priority is to pressure 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 enemy either.

A Historical Blueprint: The Monroe Doctrine

In a wider context, the national security strategy draws its ideas 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 meddle in the "western hemisphere," which he declared to be the US’s sphere of interest. The Trump administration’s policy document promises to "assert and enforce a Trump corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine, which involves the US "recruiting" countries worldwide that wish to help safeguard US national interests.

This is necessarily 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 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 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. To put it bluntly, the US is not only an unwilling ally; it is a deliberate adversary. It is time to act accordingly.