🔗 Share this article

On the exact date Donald Trump was presented with a custom-made "peace prize" from his recent ally, FIFA president "Gianni" Infantino, his administration published an similarly flamboyant national security strategy. This relatively short report drips with pure Trump and Trumpism. It begins with the characteristically humble assertion that the president has brought back "the United States and the globe – back from the brink of disaster and ruin."

Even though the strategy largely formalizes the current policies and rhetoric of Trump and his team, it must be heeded as a serious caution for the world, and for Europe specifically.

A Strategy of Interference and Cultural Anxiety

The document espouses an aggressive form of foreign-policy interference where the US clearly sets the goal of "fostering European strength." Its rhetoric could have been lifted straight from addresses by Viktor Orbán during the much-discussed refugee crisis of 2015-16: "We want Europe to stay European, to regain its cultural self-confidence." Even more worryingly, the document claims that Europe's "financial downturn is overshadowed by the real and more stark possibility of cultural extinction."

The whole section dedicated to Europe is imbued with decades of European far-right ideology 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 erosion of national identities and self-belief." According to the document, if "present trends continue, the continent will be unrecognisable in 20 years or less. As such, it is far from obvious whether certain European countries will have economic power 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’ individual character and history."

Foundational Ideas of the Far Right

These arguments carry powerful echoes of two theories regarded as foundational for modern far-right circles. The first is Oswald Spengler's "The Decline of the West," whose thesis on the inevitable fall 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 overt conspiratorial narrative, alleging European elites of using immigration to replace rebellious "native" populations and bring in a more submissive and reliant electorate.

It is the nationalist fever dream encapsulated in both ideas that grants the Trump administration the authority, if not the duty, to intervene in European affairs, the document implies. And it is evident where it identifies its allies: "The United States encourages its ideological partners in Europe to advance this resurgence of spirit, and the increasing influence of patriotic European parties indeed gives cause for great optimism."

The Objective: "Make Europe Great Again"

In other words, the US contends that it is essential to its national security to "Make Europe great again," and that the European far right is the only movement that can achieve this. Consequently, its "overarching strategy for Europe" prioritises "cultivating resistance to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations" – understood as the far right – and "strengthening the robust nations of central, eastern, and southern Europe" – in particular "aligned countries that want to restore their former greatness" – such as Hungary and Italy.

While the document stays unclear on implementation, it is apparent that a priority is to pressure Europe to adopt a radical policy on freedom of speech, closer to the US model – especially 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 adversary either.

An Ideological Precedent: The Monroe Doctrine

In a broader sense, the national security strategy takes its inspiration less from the glorified US of the 1950s and more from the 1823 policy of 1823. Articulated by President James Monroe, this cautioned European powers not to meddle in the "western hemisphere," which he proclaimed to be the US’s sphere of interest. The Trump administration’s policy document vows to "assert and enforce a Trump corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine, which involves the US "recruiting" countries worldwide that wish to help safeguard US national interests.

This is entirely new – recall JD Vance’s address at the 2025 Munich Security Conference, where the vice-president unleashed an ideological attack on Europe’s democratic model. But perhaps now that it is published in an formal document, European leaders will at last realize that the stance is serious. And if the document is too lengthy or vague for them, it can be condensed in plain 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 reluctant ally; it is a willing adversary. Now is time to act appropriately.