🔗 Share this article

On the very day Donald Trump received a custom-made "peace prize" from his recent friend, FIFA president "Gianni" Infantino, his government published an equally ostentatious national security strategy. This relatively brief report drips with pure Trump and Trumpism. It opens with the characteristically humble claim that the president has brought back "the United States and the globe – back from the brink of catastrophe and disaster."

Even though the strategy mostly codifies the current actions and statements of Trump and his team, it must be taken as a grave warning for the world, and for the European continent in particular.

A Strategy of Interference and Civilizational Anxiety

The document advocates for an assertive form of foreign-policy interference where the US clearly sets the goal of "promoting European strength." Its language 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 remain European, to regain its cultural self-confidence." More worryingly, the document claims that Europe's "financial downturn is eclipsed by the genuine and more stark prospect of civilizational erasure."

The whole section on Europe is steeped in decades of European right-wing dogma and propaganda. The EU and its migration policies are blamed for "changing the continent and causing strife, suppression of free expression and stifling of dissent, cratering birthrates, and loss of national identities 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 not at all clear whether certain European countries will have economies and armed forces strong enough to be dependable allies." Indeed, the Trump administration believes that "in a matter of years at the latest, certain NATO members will become majority non-European."

"American diplomacy should continue to stand up for authentic democracy, freedom of expression, and unapologetic commemorations of European nations’ unique heritage and past."

Foundational Ideas of the Right-Wing

These arguments carry powerful echoes of two concepts regarded as core for contemporary right-wing circles. The first is Oswald Spengler's "The Decline of the West," whose argument on the inevitable fall of civilizations was employed by the German far right to attack the "decadence" and "weakness" 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 restive "indigenous" populations and bring in a more submissive and dependent electorate.

It is the nationalist fantasy encapsulated in both ideas that grants the Trump administration the right, if not the duty, to intervene in European affairs, the document suggests. And it is evident where it identifies its allies: "The United States encourages its ideological partners in Europe to advance this resurgence of national spirit, and the increasing clout of nationalist European parties in fact gives cause for significant hope."

The Goal: "Restore European Greatness"

In other words, the US believes that it is key to its national security to "Restore European strength," and that the European far right is the only movement that can accomplish this. Therefore, its "broad policy for Europe" prioritises "cultivating opposition to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations" – understood as 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" – 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, more aligned with 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 directly called a future ally, the Trump administration clearly 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 1823 policy of 1823. Articulated by President James Monroe, this cautioned European powers not to meddle in the "western hemisphere," which he declared to be the US’s sphere of interest. The Trump administration’s policy document promises 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 – recall JD Vance’s speech at the 2025 Munich Security Conference, where the vice-president launched an assault on Europe’s democratic model. But perhaps now that it is laid out in an official document, European leaders will finally realize that the situation 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 most enhanced by the demise of liberal democracy in Europe. To put it bluntly, the US is not just an reluctant ally; it is a willing adversary. It is time to act accordingly.