🔗 Share this article

On the exact date Donald Trump received a tailor-made "peace prize" from his newest friend, FIFA president "Gianni" Infantino, his government released an similarly flamboyant security policy document. This fairly brief report is saturated with the essence of Trump and Trumpism. It begins with the characteristically modest claim that the president has brought back "our nation – and the world – back from the brink of catastrophe and disaster."

Even though the document largely formalizes the current actions and rhetoric of Trump and his team, it must be taken as a grave warning for the world, and for Europe specifically.

A Strategy of Intervention and Civilizational Anxiety

The document espouses an assertive form of foreign-policy interference where the US explicitly sets the goal of "promoting European strength." Its rhetoric seems lifted straight from speeches by the Hungarian Prime Minister during the much-discussed refugee crisis of 2015-16: "Our desire is for Europe to remain European, to reclaim its cultural self-assurance." Even more worryingly, the document claims that Europe's "financial downturn is eclipsed by the real and more stark possibility of cultural extinction."

The entire section dedicated to Europe is steeped in generations of European right-wing dogma and rhetoric. The EU and its migration policies are blamed for "transforming the continent and causing strife, censorship of free expression and stifling of dissent, plummeting birthrates, and loss of national identities and self-belief." Per the document, if "current trajectories continue, the continent will be unrecognizable in 20 years or less. As such, it is far from obvious whether certain European countries will have economies and militaries powerful enough to remain dependable allies." Indeed, 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 authentic democracy, free speech, and unapologetic commemorations of European nations’ individual character and past."

Foundational Ideas of the Right-Wing

These arguments carry powerful overtones of two concepts regarded as foundational 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 used by the German far right to attack the "perversion" and "weakness" of the democratic Weimar Republic. The second is "The Great Replacement," released in 2011 by French novelist Renaud Camus, who translated long-existing "indigenous" fears into a more explicit conspiracy theory, accusing European elites of using immigration to substitute restive "native" populations and import a more submissive and dependent electorate.

It is the nativist fantasy encapsulated 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 clear where it identifies its allies: "The United States encourages its political allies in Europe to advance this revival of spirit, and the growing clout of patriotic European parties in fact gives cause for significant hope."

The Goal: "Make Europe Great Again"

Put simply, 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 movement that can achieve this. Therefore, its "broad policy for Europe" focuses on "cultivating opposition to Europe’s present path within European nations" – understood as the far right – and "strengthening the healthy nations of central, eastern, and southern Europe" – in particular "nations in agreement that want to restore their past glory" – a clear reference to Hungary and Italy.

While the document remains unclear on implementation, it is obvious that a key aim is to pressure Europe to adopt a sweeping policy on freedom of speech, more aligned with the US model – especially regarding right-wing speech – and not just on social media. Another is to normalize 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 enemy either.

A Historical Blueprint: The Monroe Doctrine

In a wider context, the national security strategy takes its inspiration less from the glorified US of the 1950s and more from the Monroe Doctrine of 1823. Proclaimed by President James Monroe, this cautioned European powers not to interfere in the "Americas," which he proclaimed to be the US’s sphere of interest. The Trump administration’s policy document vows to "implement a Trump addition" to the Monroe Doctrine, which entails the US "recruiting" countries worldwide that wish to help safeguard 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 assault on Europe’s democratic model. But perhaps now that it is laid out in an official document, European leaders will finally understand that the stance is grave. And if the document is too lengthy or vague 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 destruction of liberal democracy in Europe. In other words, the US is not only an unwilling ally; it is a willing adversary. Now is time to act accordingly.