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On the very date Donald Trump received a custom-made "award for peace" from his newest friend, FIFA president "Gianni" Infantino, his government released an similarly flamboyant security policy document. This relatively short paper drips 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 catastrophe and disaster."

Even though the strategy mostly formalizes the ongoing 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 Interference and Cultural Fear

The document espouses 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 so-called refugee crisis of 2015-16: "Our desire is for Europe to remain European, to reclaim its cultural self-assurance." Even more ominously, the document claims that Europe's "financial downturn is eclipsed by the real and starker prospect of civilizational erasure."

The whole section on Europe is imbued with generations of European right-wing ideology and rhetoric. The EU and its migration policies are blamed for "changing the continent and causing strife, suppression of free expression and stifling of political opposition, cratering birthrates, and loss of national identities and self-belief." Per the document, if "present trends continue, the continent will be unrecognizable in 20 years or less. As such, it is not at all clear whether some European countries will have economies and militaries strong enough to be dependable allies." In fact, the Trump administration believes that "within a few decades at the latest, certain NATO members will become majority non-European."

"U.S. foreign policy should continue to stand up for genuine democracy, free speech, and proud commemorations of European nations’ unique heritage and past."

Core Ideas of the Far Right

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 cyclical decline of civilizations was employed by the German far right to attack the "decadence" 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 conspiracy theory, alleging European elites of using immigration to substitute restive "native" populations and bring in 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 duty, to interfere in European affairs, the document implies. And it is clear where it identifies its allies: "America encourages its ideological partners in Europe to advance this revival of spirit, and the increasing clout of patriotic European parties in fact gives cause for significant hope."

The Goal: "Restore European Greatness"

Put simply, 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 achieve this. Therefore, its "overarching strategy for Europe" prioritises "fostering resistance to Europe’s present path 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 stays unclear on methods, it is obvious that a priority is to push Europe to adopt a sweeping policy on freedom of speech, more aligned with the US model – particularly regarding right-wing speech – and not just on 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 directly 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 draws its ideas less from the idealized US of the 1950s and more from the Monroe Doctrine 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 sphere of interest. The Trump administration’s policy document promises to "assert and enforce a Trump addition" to the Monroe Doctrine, which involves the US "recruiting" countries worldwide that wish to help protect US national interests.

This is entirely new – recall JD Vance’s address at the 2025 Munich Security Conference, where the vice-president unleashed an assault on Europe’s democratic model. But maybe now that it is laid out in an formal document, European leaders will at last understand that the stance is serious. And if the document is too long or imprecise for them, it can be condensed in plain and succinct terms: the current US government believes 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 unwilling ally; it is a deliberate adversary. Now is time to act appropriately.