🔗 Share this article

On the very day Donald Trump was presented with a tailor-made "peace prize" from his recent ally, FIFA president "Gianni" Infantino, his administration released an equally flamboyant national security strategy. This relatively brief report is saturated with pure Trump and Trumpism. It begins with the characteristically modest assertion that the president has brought back "the United States and the globe – back from the brink of catastrophe and ruin."

Even though the document largely formalizes the ongoing actions and statements of Trump and his cabinet, it must be heeded as a grave warning for the world, and for the European continent in particular.

A Blueprint of Interference and Cultural Anxiety

The document advocates for an aggressive form of foreign-policy meddling where the US explicitly sets the goal of "promoting European strength." Its language could have been lifted straight from speeches by Viktor Orbán during the much-discussed migration emergency of 2015-16: "We want Europe to stay European, to reclaim its cultural self-confidence." More worryingly, the document states that Europe's "economic decline is eclipsed by the genuine and more stark prospect of cultural extinction."

The entire section dedicated to Europe is imbued with generations 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 suppression of dissent, plummeting birthrates, and loss of sovereign identity 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 certain European countries will have economic power and militaries powerful enough to be dependable allies." In fact, the Trump administration believes that "within a few decades at the latest, certain NATO members will become predominantly non-European."

"American diplomacy should continue to champion genuine democracy, free speech, and unapologetic celebrations of European nations’ unique heritage and past."

Core Ideas of the Right-Wing

These points carry powerful overtones of two concepts seen as foundational for contemporary far-right 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 criticise the "perversion" and "weakness" of the democratic Weimar Republic. The second is "The Great Replacement," published in 2011 by French novelist Renaud Camus, who transformed long-existing "native" fears into a more overt conspiratorial narrative, alleging European elites of using immigration to substitute rebellious "native" populations and import a more docile and reliant electorate.

It is the nationalist fever dream contained in both ideas that gives the Trump administration the right, if not the obligation, to intervene in European affairs, the document suggests. And it is evident where it sees its allies: "The United States encourages its political allies in Europe to advance this resurgence of spirit, and the increasing influence of nationalist European parties in fact gives cause for great optimism."

The Goal: "Restore European Greatness"

In other words, the US believes that it is key to its national security to "Make Europe great again," and that the European far right is the only political force that can achieve this. Therefore, its "overarching strategy for Europe" focuses on "cultivating resistance to Europe’s present path within European nations" – understood as the far right – and "strengthening the robust nations of central, eastern, and southern Europe" – in particular "aligned countries that want to restore their past glory" – a clear reference to Hungary and Italy.

While the document remains vague on methods, it is obvious that a key aim is to push 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.

An Ideological Blueprint: The Monroe Doctrine

In a broader sense, the national security strategy takes its inspiration less from the idealized US of the 1950s and more from the 1823 policy of 1823. Proclaimed by President James Monroe, this warned European powers not to meddle in the "Americas," which he declared to be the US’s zone of influence. The Trump administration’s policy document vows to "assert and enforce a Trump addition" 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 launched an ideological attack on Europe’s democratic model. But perhaps now that it is laid out in an official document, European leaders will at last understand that the situation is serious. And if the document is too lengthy or imprecise for them, it can be condensed in clear and succinct terms: the current US government believes that its national security is most enhanced by the demise of liberal democracy in Europe. In other words, the US is not only an reluctant ally; it is a willing adversary. Now is time to respond appropriately.