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On the very date Donald Trump was presented with a custom-made "peace prize" from his newest friend, FIFA president "Johnny" Infantino, his government released an equally ostentatious security policy document. This relatively brief paper is saturated with the essence of Trump and Trumpism. It opens with the characteristically modest claim that the president has brought back "the United States and the globe – back from the brink of disaster and ruin."

Even though the document mostly formalizes the current policies and statements of Trump and his cabinet, it must be taken as a grave caution for the international community, and for the European continent specifically.

A Strategy of Intervention 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 rhetoric could have been taken straight from addresses by the Hungarian Prime Minister during the so-called migration emergency of 2015-16: "Our desire is for Europe to stay European, to regain its civilizational self-assurance." Even more ominously, the document states that Europe's "financial downturn is overshadowed by the real and starker prospect of cultural extinction."

The whole section on Europe is imbued with generations of European far-right ideology and propaganda. The EU and its migration policies are held responsible for "transforming the continent and causing strife, suppression of free expression and stifling of dissent, plummeting birthrates, and loss of national identities and self-belief." Per the document, if "present trends continue, the continent will be unrecognisable in 20 years or less. As such, it is not at all clear whether some European countries will have economic power and armed forces powerful enough to be dependable allies." In fact, the Trump administration asserts that "within a few decades at the latest, certain NATO members will become majority non-European."

"American diplomacy should continue to champion genuine democracy, freedom of expression, and proud commemorations of European nations’ individual character and past."

Foundational Ideas of the Right-Wing

These points carry powerful echoes of two concepts seen as core for modern right-wing circles. The first is Oswald Spengler's "The Decline of the West," whose argument on the inevitable fall of civilizations was used by the German far right to attack the "decadence" 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 conspiratorial narrative, accusing European elites of using immigration to replace rebellious "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 sees its allies: "The United States encourages its political allies in Europe to advance this resurgence of spirit, and the growing influence of patriotic European parties in fact gives cause for significant hope."

The Goal: "Make Europe Great Again"

In other words, the US contends that it is essential to its national security to "Restore European strength," 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 former greatness" – such as Hungary and Italy.

While the document remains unclear on methods, 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 normalize relations with Russia; or, as the document phrases it, to "reestablish strategic stability with Russia." Although the country is not directly called a future ally, the Trump administration evidently does not regard Russia as an enemy either.

An Ideological Precedent: The Monroe Doctrine

In a wider context, the national security strategy draws its ideas less from the glorified US of the 1950s and more from the Monroe Doctrine of 1823. Articulated by President James Monroe, this cautioned European powers not to meddle in the "Americas," which he proclaimed to be the US’s sphere of interest. The Trump administration’s policy document vows to "assert and enforce a Trump corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine, which involves the US "recruiting" countries worldwide that wish to help safeguard 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 published in an official document, European leaders will at last understand that the stance is serious. And if the document is too lengthy or vague for them, it can be summarised in plain and succinct terms: the current US government holds that its national security is best served by the destruction of liberal democracy in Europe. To put it bluntly, the US is not just an unwilling ally; it is a deliberate adversary. Now is time to act appropriately.