🔗 Share this article

On the exact day Donald Trump was presented with a custom-made "award for peace" from his recent ally, FIFA president "Johnny" Infantino, his government published an equally ostentatious security policy document. This fairly short report drips with pure Trump and Trumpism. It opens with the characteristically modest assertion that the president has rescued "our nation – and the world – back from the edge of catastrophe and ruin."

Even though the document largely codifies the current actions and rhetoric of Trump and his team, it must be heeded as a grave caution for the world, and for the European continent in particular.

A Strategy of Intervention and Civilizational Anxiety

The document espouses an aggressive form of foreign-policy meddling where the US clearly sets the goal of "fostering European greatness." Its rhetoric seems taken straight from addresses by Viktor Orbán during the much-discussed migration emergency of 2015-16: "Our desire is for Europe to remain European, to regain its cultural self-assurance." More ominously, the document claims that Europe's "financial downturn is eclipsed by the genuine and starker possibility of civilizational erasure."

The whole section dedicated to Europe is steeped in generations of European far-right ideology and propaganda. The EU and its migration policies are blamed for "transforming the continent and creating strife, censorship of free expression and suppression of political opposition, cratering birthrates, and loss of sovereign identity and self-confidence." According to 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 certain European countries will have economies and militaries powerful enough to remain dependable allies." In fact, the Trump administration asserts that "in a matter of years at the latest, some NATO members will become predominantly non-European."

"U.S. foreign policy should continue to stand up for genuine democracy, free speech, and unapologetic commemorations of European nations’ individual character and history."

Foundational Theories of the Far Right

These points carry powerful echoes of two theories seen as core for modern right-wing circles. The first is Oswald Spengler's "The Decline of the West," whose thesis on the cyclical decline of civilizations was employed by the German far right to criticise the "perversion" and "weakness" of the democratic Weimar Republic. The second is "Le Grand Remplacement," published in 2011 by French novelist Renaud Camus, who translated long-existing "native" fears into a more explicit conspiracy theory, alleging European elites of using immigration to substitute restive "native" populations and import a more submissive and reliant electorate.

It is the nativist fantasy contained in both ideas that grants the Trump administration the authority, if not the duty, to interfere in European affairs, the document suggests. And it is evident where it sees its allies: "America encourages its political allies in Europe to advance this resurgence of national spirit, and the growing influence of nationalist European parties indeed 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 sole movement that can achieve this. Consequently, its "overarching strategy for Europe" prioritises "fostering resistance 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 reclaim their former greatness" – such as Hungary and Italy.

While the document stays unclear on methods, 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 – especially regarding right-wing speech – and not just on social media. Another is to normalise 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 clearly does not treat Russia as an enemy either.

A Historical 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 Monroe Doctrine of 1823. Proclaimed by President James Monroe, this cautioned European powers not to meddle in the "western hemisphere," which he proclaimed 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 "enlisting" countries worldwide that wish to help safeguard US national interests.

None of this is necessarily new – consider 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 published in an official document, European leaders will at last understand that the situation is serious. And if the document is too long or imprecise for them, it can be condensed in clear and succinct terms: the current US government holds that its national security is most enhanced by the destruction of liberal democracy in Europe. To put it bluntly, the US is not just an reluctant ally; it is a deliberate adversary. Now is time to respond appropriately.