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On the exact date Donald Trump received a tailor-made "peace prize" from his recent ally, FIFA president "Gianni" Infantino, his administration released an similarly ostentatious security policy document. This fairly short report is saturated with pure Trump and Trumpism. It opens with the typically modest assertion that the president has brought back "our nation – and the world – back from the edge of catastrophe and ruin."

Even though the strategy mostly codifies the ongoing policies and statements of Trump and his cabinet, it must be heeded as a grave warning for the international community, and for Europe in particular.

A Blueprint of Intervention and Civilizational Anxiety

The document espouses an aggressive form of foreign-policy meddling where the US explicitly sets the goal of "promoting European strength." Its rhetoric seems lifted straight from addresses by the Hungarian Prime Minister during the so-called refugee crisis of 2015-16: "We want Europe to remain European, to reclaim its civilizational self-confidence." More ominously, the document states that Europe's "financial downturn is overshadowed by the genuine and starker prospect of civilizational erasure."

The entire section on Europe is steeped in decades of European right-wing ideology and propaganda. The EU and its migration policies are held responsible for "changing the continent and creating conflict, suppression of free expression and stifling of dissent, plummeting birthrates, and loss of sovereign identity and self-confidence." According to the document, if "current trajectories continue, the continent will be unrecognizable in 20 years or less. As such, it is far from obvious whether some European countries will have economic power and militaries strong enough to be reliable allies." In fact, 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 proud commemorations of European nations’ unique heritage and past."

Core Ideas of the Right-Wing

These points carry strong overtones of two concepts regarded as foundational for modern right-wing circles. The first is Oswald Spengler's "Der Untergang des Abendlandes," whose thesis on the cyclical decline of civilizations was used by the German far right to attack the "perversion" and "enfeeblement" of the democratic Weimar Republic. The second is "Le Grand Remplacement," released in 2011 by French novelist Renaud Camus, who transformed long-existing "indigenous" fears into a more overt conspiracy theory, alleging European elites of using immigration to replace restive "native" populations and import a more docile and reliant electorate.

It is the nationalist fever dream contained in both ideas that grants the Trump administration the right, if not the duty, to intervene in European affairs, the document implies. And it is clear where it identifies its allies: "America urges its ideological partners in Europe to advance this revival of national spirit, and the growing influence of patriotic European parties indeed gives cause for significant hope."

The Goal: "Make Europe Great Again"

In other words, the US believes that it is essential to its national security to "Make Europe great again," and that the European far right is the sole movement that can achieve this. Consequently, its "broad policy for Europe" focuses on "fostering opposition to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations" – understood as the far right – and "building up the robust nations of central, eastern, and southern Europe" – specifically "aligned countries that want to reclaim their past glory" – such as Hungary and Italy.

While the document stays unclear on implementation, it is apparent that a key aim 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 limited to social media. Another is to normalise relations with Russia; or, as the document phrases it, to "restore 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 broader sense, the national security strategy draws its ideas 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 "western hemisphere," which he declared to be the US’s zone of influence. The Trump administration’s policy document vows to "assert and enforce a Trump corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine, which entails the US "recruiting" countries worldwide that wish to help protect US national interests.

This is entirely new – consider JD Vance’s address at the 2025 Munich Security Conference, where the vice-president unleashed an assault on Europe’s democratic model. But maybe now that it is laid out 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 succinct terms: the current US government holds that its national security is most enhanced by the destruction of liberal democracy in Europe. In other words, the US is not just an reluctant ally; it is a willing adversary. Now is time to act accordingly.