🔗 Share this article

On the very date Donald Trump received a custom-made "award for peace" from his newest ally, FIFA president "Gianni" Infantino, his administration published an similarly ostentatious national security strategy. This fairly brief report is saturated with the essence of Trump and Trumpism. It opens with the characteristically modest claim that the president has rescued "our nation – and the world – back from the brink of disaster and disaster."

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

A Strategy of Interference and Cultural Anxiety

The document espouses an aggressive form of foreign-policy interference where the US explicitly sets the goal of "promoting European strength." Its language seems lifted straight from addresses by the Hungarian Prime Minister during the so-called migration emergency of 2015-16: "Our desire is for Europe to remain European, to reclaim its cultural self-confidence." More worryingly, the document claims that Europe's "economic decline is eclipsed by the real and more stark prospect of civilizational erasure."

The whole section on Europe is imbued with decades of European far-right dogma and propaganda. The EU and its migration policies are held responsible for "transforming the continent and causing strife, suppression of free expression and suppression of political opposition, plummeting birthrates, and loss of sovereign identity and self-confidence." Per the document, if "current trajectories 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 armed forces strong enough to be reliable allies." Indeed, the Trump administration believes 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 past."

Core Theories of the Right-Wing

These arguments carry strong overtones of two concepts seen as core for modern right-wing circles. The first is Oswald Spengler's "Der Untergang des Abendlandes," whose argument on the inevitable fall of civilizations was used by the German far right to criticise 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 overt conspiratorial narrative, accusing European elites of using immigration to substitute restive "indigenous" populations and import a more docile and dependent electorate.

It is the nativist fever dream encapsulated in both ideas that grants the Trump administration the right, if not the obligation, to interfere in European affairs, the document suggests. And it is clear where it identifies its allies: "America encourages its political allies in Europe to promote this revival of national spirit, and the increasing influence of nationalist European parties indeed gives cause for significant hope."

The Objective: "Make Europe Great Again"

Put simply, the US contends that it is essential to its national security to "Make Europe great again," and that the European far right is the only political force that can accomplish this. Consequently, its "broad policy for Europe" prioritises "fostering resistance to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations" – meaning the far right – and "building up the robust nations of central, eastern, and southern Europe" – specifically "aligned countries that want to restore their past glory" – such as Hungary and Italy.

While the document stays vague on implementation, it is obvious that a priority is to push Europe to adopt a sweeping policy on freedom of speech, closer to the US model – particularly regarding far-right 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 explicitly called a future ally, the Trump administration clearly does not regard Russia as an adversary either.

A Historical Precedent: The Monroe Doctrine

In a wider context, the national security strategy takes its inspiration less from the glorified 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 "Americas," which he declared to be the US’s zone of influence. The Trump administration’s policy document promises to "implement 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 – recall JD Vance’s speech at the 2025 Munich Security Conference, where the vice-president launched an assault 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 vague for them, it can be summarised in plain and concise terms: the current US government believes that its national security is best served by the demise of liberal democracy in Europe. In other words, the US is not only an unwilling ally; it is a willing adversary. It is time to respond accordingly.