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On the very date Donald Trump received a custom-made "peace prize" from his newest friend, FIFA president "Gianni" Infantino, his administration released an equally flamboyant security policy document. This fairly short paper is saturated with pure Trump and Trumpism. It opens with the typically modest claim that the president has rescued "our nation – and the world – back from the brink of disaster and disaster."

Even though the strategy largely formalizes the current actions and rhetoric of Trump and his team, it must be heeded as a serious warning for the international community, and for Europe in particular.

A Blueprint of Interference and Cultural Fear

The document espouses an aggressive form of foreign-policy meddling where the US explicitly sets the goal of "fostering European greatness." Its rhetoric could have been taken directly from addresses by Viktor Orbán during the so-called refugee crisis of 2015-16: "Our desire is for Europe to remain European, to reclaim its civilizational self-confidence." Even more ominously, the document states that Europe's "economic decline is eclipsed by the genuine and starker prospect of cultural extinction."

The entire section on Europe is imbued with decades of European right-wing ideology and rhetoric. The EU and its migration policies are held responsible for "changing the continent and creating conflict, suppression of free expression and stifling of dissent, cratering birthrates, and loss of national identities and self-confidence." Per the document, if "present trends 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 powerful enough to remain 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, freedom of expression, and unapologetic commemorations of European nations’ unique heritage and history."

Foundational Ideas of the Far Right

These arguments carry powerful echoes of two theories regarded as foundational for contemporary right-wing circles. The first is Oswald Spengler's "Der Untergang des Abendlandes," whose argument on the inevitable fall of civilizations was employed by the German far right to criticise the "perversion" and "weakness" of the democratic Weimar Republic. The second is "Le Grand Remplacement," published in 2011 by French novelist Renaud Camus, who transformed long-existing "indigenous" fears into a more explicit conspiratorial narrative, alleging European elites of using immigration to substitute restive "indigenous" populations and import a more docile and dependent electorate.

It is the nationalist fantasy contained in both ideas that gives the Trump administration the authority, if not the duty, to intervene in European affairs, the document implies. And it is clear where it sees its allies: "The United States encourages its ideological partners in Europe to promote this revival of spirit, and the increasing clout of nationalist European parties indeed gives cause for great optimism."

The Objective: "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 "overarching strategy for Europe" focuses on "fostering opposition to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations" – meaning the far right – and "strengthening the robust nations of central, eastern, and southern Europe" – in particular "nations in agreement that want to reclaim their past glory" – such as Hungary and Italy.

While the document remains unclear on methods, it is apparent that a priority is to pressure Europe to adopt a radical policy on freedom of speech, closer to the US model – especially regarding far-right speech – and not just on social media. Another is to normalise relations with Russia; or, as the document calls it, to "restore strategic stability with Russia." Although the country is not explicitly called a future ally, the Trump administration clearly does not treat Russia as an adversary either.

A Historical Blueprint: 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 interfere in the "Americas," which he proclaimed to be the US’s sphere of interest. The Trump administration’s policy document vows to "implement a Trump corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine, which entails the US "enlisting" countries worldwide that wish to help protect US national interests.

This is necessarily new – consider 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 laid out in an formal document, European leaders will finally understand that the stance is grave. And if the document is too lengthy or imprecise for them, it can be condensed in clear and concise 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 only an reluctant ally; it is a willing adversary. It is time to act accordingly.