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On the very day Donald Trump was presented with a custom-made "peace prize" from his newest friend, FIFA president "Johnny" Infantino, his government released an equally flamboyant security policy document. This fairly brief report is saturated with the essence of Trump and Trumpism. It opens with the typically humble claim that the president has brought back "our nation – and the world – back from the brink of disaster and ruin."

Even though the strategy largely formalizes the current actions and statements of Trump and his cabinet, it must be taken as a grave caution for the international community, and for the European continent specifically.

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 could have been taken directly from speeches by Viktor Orbán during the so-called refugee crisis of 2015-16: "Our desire is for Europe to stay European, to regain its cultural self-assurance." More worryingly, the document claims that Europe's "economic decline is overshadowed by the real and starker prospect of civilizational erasure."

The whole section on Europe is imbued with generations of European far-right dogma and propaganda. The EU and its migration policies are held responsible for "transforming the continent and creating strife, censorship of free expression and stifling of dissent, cratering birthrates, and erosion of national identities and self-belief." Per the document, if "current trajectories continue, the continent will be unrecognisable in 20 years or less. As such, it is far from obvious whether some European countries will have economies and armed forces powerful enough to remain dependable allies." In fact, the Trump administration asserts that "within a few decades at the latest, some NATO members will become majority non-European."

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

Foundational Ideas of the Right-Wing

These points carry strong overtones of two theories regarded as foundational for modern far-right circles. The first is Oswald Spengler's "Der Untergang des Abendlandes," whose thesis 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," released in 2011 by French novelist Renaud Camus, who translated long-existing "indigenous" fears into a more explicit conspiracy theory, alleging European elites of using immigration to replace rebellious "native" populations and bring in a more docile and dependent electorate.

It is the nationalist fantasy encapsulated in both ideas that grants the Trump administration the authority, if not the duty, to intervene in European affairs, the document suggests. And it is clear where it sees its allies: "America urges its ideological partners in Europe to promote this resurgence of national spirit, and the growing clout of patriotic European parties in fact gives cause for significant hope."

The Objective: "Restore European Greatness"

In other words, the US believes that it is essential to its national security to "Make Europe great again," and that the European far right is the sole political force that can achieve this. Therefore, its "broad policy for Europe" prioritises "cultivating resistance to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations" – understood as the far right – and "building up the robust nations of central, eastern, and southern Europe" – specifically "nations in agreement that want to restore their past glory" – such as Hungary and Italy.

While the document stays vague on methods, it is obvious that a key aim is to pressure Europe to adopt a sweeping policy on freedom of speech, closer to 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 calls it, to "reestablish strategic stability with Russia." Although the country is not directly called a future ally, the Trump administration evidently does not treat Russia as an enemy either.

A Historical Precedent: 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. Articulated by President James Monroe, this warned European powers not to interfere in the "western hemisphere," which he declared to be the US’s zone of influence. The Trump administration’s policy document promises to "assert and enforce a Trump addition" to the Monroe Doctrine, which involves the US "enlisting" 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 unleashed an assault on Europe’s democratic model. But maybe now that it is published in an formal document, European leaders will at last realize that the stance is grave. And if the document is too long or vague for them, it can be condensed in clear and concise 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 deliberate adversary. Now is time to act accordingly.