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On the exact date Donald Trump was presented with a tailor-made "award for peace" from his recent friend, FIFA president "Johnny" Infantino, his administration released an equally ostentatious security policy document. This fairly short paper is saturated with the essence of Trump and Trumpism. It begins with the typically humble claim that the president has rescued "the United States and the globe – back from the edge of disaster and disaster."

Even though the strategy mostly formalizes the ongoing policies and statements of Trump and his team, it must be taken as a grave caution for the international community, and for Europe specifically.

A Blueprint of Intervention and Cultural Anxiety

The document advocates for an aggressive form of foreign-policy meddling where the US explicitly sets the goal of "promoting European greatness." Its language could have been lifted straight from speeches by the Hungarian Prime Minister during the much-discussed migration emergency of 2015-16: "Our desire is for Europe to remain European, to regain its cultural self-assurance." Even more worryingly, the document claims that Europe's "financial downturn is eclipsed by the genuine and more stark prospect of cultural extinction."

The entire section dedicated to Europe is imbued with generations of European right-wing dogma and rhetoric. The EU and its migration policies are blamed for "transforming the continent and causing conflict, suppression of free speech and stifling of dissent, plummeting birthrates, and erosion of national identities 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 economic power and militaries strong enough to remain dependable allies." In fact, the Trump administration believes that "within a few decades at the latest, some NATO members will become predominantly non-European."

"American diplomacy should continue to champion genuine democracy, free speech, and unapologetic celebrations of European nations’ unique heritage and history."

Core Ideas of the Right-Wing

These arguments carry strong echoes of two theories seen as foundational for modern far-right circles. The first is Oswald Spengler's "The Decline of the West," whose thesis on the inevitable fall of civilizations was employed 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 "indigenous" fears into a more explicit conspiratorial narrative, alleging European elites of using immigration to substitute restive "native" populations and import a more submissive and dependent electorate.

It is the nationalist fever dream contained in both ideas that grants the Trump administration the right, if not the obligation, to intervene in European affairs, the document implies. And it is evident where it identifies its allies: "The United States urges its political allies in Europe to advance this resurgence 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 believes that it is key to its national security to "Restore European strength," and that the European far right is the sole movement that can achieve this. Consequently, its "broad policy for Europe" focuses on "cultivating opposition to Europe’s present path within European nations" – meaning the far right – and "strengthening the healthy nations of central, eastern, and southern Europe" – specifically "aligned countries that want to reclaim their former greatness" – such as Hungary and Italy.

While the document remains unclear on methods, it is obvious that a key aim is to push Europe to adopt a sweeping policy on freedom of speech, closer to the US model – particularly regarding right-wing speech – and not limited to social media. Another is to normalize relations with Russia; or, as the document calls it, to "reestablish strategic stability with Russia." Although the country is not directly called a future ally, the Trump administration clearly does not treat Russia as an enemy either.

An Ideological Blueprint: The Monroe Doctrine

In a wider context, the national security strategy takes its inspiration less from the idealized 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 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 "enlisting" countries worldwide that wish to help safeguard US national interests.

None of this is entirely 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 maybe now that it is laid out in an official 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 summarised in clear and succinct terms: the current US government holds that its national security is best served by the demise of liberal democracy in Europe. In other words, the US is not just an unwilling ally; it is a willing adversary. Now is time to act appropriately.