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On the exact date Donald Trump was presented with a tailor-made "peace prize" from his recent friend, FIFA president "Gianni" Infantino, his administration released an similarly ostentatious security policy document. This fairly brief paper is saturated with the essence of Trump and Trumpism. It begins with the characteristically modest assertion that the president has rescued "the United States and the globe – back from the brink of disaster and ruin."

Even though the strategy largely formalizes the current policies and statements of Trump and his team, it must be taken as a grave caution for the world, and for Europe in particular.

A Strategy of Intervention and Cultural Fear

The document advocates for an assertive form of foreign-policy meddling where the US clearly sets the goal of "promoting European strength." Its language seems lifted directly from speeches by the Hungarian Prime Minister during the much-discussed migration emergency of 2015-16: "We want Europe to stay European, to reclaim its cultural self-assurance." More ominously, the document states that Europe's "economic decline is overshadowed by the real and starker possibility of cultural extinction."

The entire section dedicated to Europe is steeped in generations of European right-wing ideology and rhetoric. The EU and its migration policies are held responsible for "changing the continent and causing conflict, censorship of free speech and suppression of dissent, cratering birthrates, and loss of sovereign identity 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 economies and militaries strong enough to remain reliable allies." In fact, the Trump administration believes that "in a matter of years at the latest, certain NATO members will become majority non-European."

"U.S. foreign policy should continue to champion authentic democracy, freedom of expression, and unapologetic celebrations of European nations’ unique heritage and past."

Core Theories of the Right-Wing

These arguments carry powerful echoes of two concepts regarded as core for contemporary far-right 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 criticise the "decadence" and "enfeeblement" of the democratic Weimar Republic. The second is "Le Grand Remplacement," released in 2011 by French novelist Renaud Camus, who translated long-existing "native" fears into a more overt conspiratorial narrative, alleging European elites of using immigration to replace restive "indigenous" populations and import a more docile and dependent electorate.

It is the nationalist fantasy encapsulated in both ideas that gives the Trump administration the authority, if not the duty, to interfere in European affairs, the document suggests. And it is evident where it sees its allies: "America encourages its ideological partners in Europe to promote this resurgence of spirit, and the increasing influence of nationalist European parties in fact gives cause for great optimism."

The Goal: "Make Europe Great Again"

In other words, the US contends that it is key to its national security to "Make Europe great again," and that the European far right is the sole movement that can accomplish this. Therefore, its "broad policy for Europe" focuses on "cultivating resistance to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations" – meaning the far right – and "building up the healthy nations of central, eastern, and southern Europe" – in particular "nations in agreement that want to restore their former greatness" – a clear reference to Hungary and Italy.

While the document remains vague on implementation, it is obvious that a priority is to pressure Europe to adopt a sweeping policy on freedom of speech, closer to the US model – especially regarding right-wing speech – and not limited to 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 regard Russia as an enemy either.

A Historical Blueprint: 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 cautioned European powers not to meddle in the "western hemisphere," which he proclaimed to be the US’s zone of influence. The Trump administration’s policy document vows to "implement a Trump corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine, which entails the US "recruiting" countries worldwide that wish to help protect US national interests.

None of this is entirely new – recall 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 published in an official document, European leaders will finally realize that the situation is serious. And if the document is too long or imprecise for them, it can be condensed in clear and succinct 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 reluctant ally; it is a willing adversary. It is time to act accordingly.