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On the exact date Donald Trump received a tailor-made "award for peace" from his recent ally, FIFA president "Gianni" Infantino, his administration published an similarly flamboyant security policy document. This relatively short report is saturated with pure Trump and Trumpism. It begins with the characteristically modest assertion that the president has rescued "our nation – and the world – back from the edge of catastrophe and disaster."

Even though the strategy mostly formalizes the ongoing policies and rhetoric of Trump and his team, it must be heeded as a grave caution for the world, and for the European continent specifically.

A Strategy of Interference 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 lifted straight from speeches by the Hungarian Prime Minister during the much-discussed refugee crisis of 2015-16: "Our desire is for Europe to remain European, to reclaim its civilizational self-assurance." Even more worryingly, the document states that Europe's "financial downturn is eclipsed by the genuine and starker prospect of civilizational erasure."

The whole section dedicated to Europe is steeped in generations of European far-right dogma and propaganda. The EU and its migration policies are held responsible for "transforming the continent and creating conflict, censorship of free expression and stifling of political opposition, cratering birthrates, and loss of sovereign identity and self-confidence." Per the document, if "current trajectories continue, the continent will be unrecognisable in 20 years or less. As such, it is far from obvious whether certain European countries will have economies and armed forces powerful enough to be dependable allies." In fact, the Trump administration asserts that "in a matter of years at the latest, some 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 past."

Core Theories of the Right-Wing

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 thesis on the inevitable fall 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," 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 substitute restive "indigenous" populations and import a more docile and reliant electorate.

It is the nativist fantasy contained in both ideas that gives the Trump administration the authority, if not the obligation, to intervene in European affairs, the document suggests. And it is clear where it identifies its allies: "America urges its political allies in Europe to promote this resurgence of spirit, and the growing influence of patriotic European parties indeed gives cause for great optimism."

The Objective: "Restore European Greatness"

Put simply, the US contends that it is essential to its national security to "Restore European strength," and that the European far right is the sole movement that can achieve this. Therefore, its "broad policy for Europe" focuses on "fostering opposition to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations" – meaning the far right – and "building up the robust 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 stays vague on methods, it is obvious that a priority is to pressure Europe to adopt a radical policy on freedom of speech, more aligned with the US model – particularly regarding right-wing speech – and not just on 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 enemy either.

A Historical Precedent: 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 Monroe Doctrine of 1823. Articulated by President James Monroe, this warned European powers not to meddle in the "Americas," which he proclaimed to be the US’s sphere of interest. The Trump administration’s policy document promises to "assert and enforce a Trump addition" to the Monroe Doctrine, which involves the US "recruiting" countries worldwide that wish to help safeguard US national interests.

This is necessarily new – consider 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 finally realize that the situation is serious. And if the document is too lengthy or imprecise for them, it can be summarised in clear and succinct terms: the current US government holds that its national security is most enhanced by the demise of liberal democracy in Europe. In other words, the US is not only an reluctant ally; it is a deliberate adversary. It is time to respond accordingly.