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On the very day Donald Trump received a tailor-made "peace prize" from his recent ally, FIFA president "Johnny" Infantino, his government published an similarly ostentatious security policy document. This relatively short report drips with pure Trump and Trumpism. It opens with the characteristically humble assertion that the president has brought back "the United States and the globe – back from the edge of catastrophe and disaster."

Even though the document mostly formalizes the ongoing policies and statements of Trump and his cabinet, it must be heeded as a serious warning for the international community, and for Europe specifically.

A Strategy of Intervention and Cultural Fear

The document espouses an assertive form of foreign-policy meddling where the US clearly sets the goal of "promoting European greatness." Its language seems lifted directly from speeches by the Hungarian Prime Minister during the much-discussed migration emergency of 2015-16: "Our desire is for Europe to stay European, to regain its cultural self-confidence." Even more ominously, the document states that Europe's "financial downturn is overshadowed by the genuine and starker possibility of civilizational erasure."

The entire section on Europe is steeped in decades of European right-wing ideology and propaganda. The EU and its migration policies are held responsible for "changing the continent and causing strife, censorship of free expression and stifling of dissent, plummeting birthrates, and erosion of national identities and self-confidence." According to 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 some European countries will have economic power and militaries strong enough to remain reliable allies." In fact, the Trump administration asserts that "in a matter of years at the latest, some NATO members will become majority non-European."

"American diplomacy should continue to champion authentic democracy, free speech, and proud commemorations of European nations’ unique heritage and history."

Foundational Ideas of the Far Right

These points carry strong echoes of two theories seen as foundational for contemporary right-wing circles. The first is Oswald Spengler's "The Decline of the West," whose thesis on the cyclical decline of civilizations was used by the German far right to attack the "perversion" and "enfeeblement" of the democratic Weimar Republic. The second is "The Great Replacement," released in 2011 by French novelist Renaud Camus, who translated long-existing "native" fears into a more explicit conspiratorial narrative, alleging European elites of using immigration to replace restive "native" populations and import a more submissive and dependent electorate.

It is the nativist fantasy contained in both ideas that grants the Trump administration the right, if not the duty, to intervene in European affairs, the document implies. And it is evident where it identifies its allies: "America urges its political allies in Europe to advance this revival of spirit, and the increasing clout of patriotic European parties indeed gives cause for significant hope."

The Goal: "Make Europe Great Again"

In other words, the US believes that it is essential to its national security to "Restore European strength," and that the European far right is the sole movement that can achieve this. Therefore, its "overarching strategy for Europe" prioritises "fostering opposition to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations" – understood as the far right – and "building up 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 remains vague on methods, it is apparent 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 "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.

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 Monroe Doctrine of 1823. Proclaimed by President James Monroe, this warned European powers not to interfere in the "Americas," which he declared to be the US’s zone of influence. The Trump administration’s policy document promises to "assert and enforce a Trump corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine, which entails the US "recruiting" countries worldwide that wish to help protect US national interests.

This is necessarily new – recall JD Vance’s speech 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 formal document, European leaders will at last realize that the situation is serious. And if the document is too lengthy or imprecise for them, it can be condensed in plain and concise terms: the current US government believes that its national security is best served by the destruction of liberal democracy in Europe. To put it bluntly, the US is not only an unwilling ally; it is a willing adversary. It is time to respond appropriately.