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On the exact date Donald Trump was presented with a tailor-made "peace prize" from his recent ally, FIFA president "Gianni" Infantino, his administration released an equally ostentatious security policy document. This fairly brief report is saturated with pure Trump and Trumpism. It opens with the typically modest claim that the president has brought back "the United States and the globe – back from the edge of disaster and disaster."

Even though the strategy largely codifies the current policies and statements of Trump and his cabinet, it must be taken as a serious caution for the international community, and for the European continent in particular.

A Blueprint of Interference and Cultural Fear

The document espouses an aggressive form of foreign-policy meddling where the US clearly sets the goal of "promoting European greatness." Its rhetoric could have been lifted directly from speeches by the Hungarian Prime Minister during the much-discussed migration emergency of 2015-16: "We want Europe to stay European, to reclaim its civilizational self-confidence." More ominously, the document claims that Europe's "economic decline is overshadowed by the genuine and more stark prospect of cultural extinction."

The entire section on Europe is imbued with generations of European far-right ideology and propaganda. The EU and its migration policies are blamed for "changing the continent and causing strife, censorship of free expression and suppression of dissent, plummeting birthrates, and erosion of sovereign identity 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 certain European countries will have economic power and militaries strong enough to be reliable allies." Indeed, the Trump administration believes that "in a matter of years at the latest, certain NATO members will become predominantly non-European."

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

Foundational Theories of the Far Right

These points carry powerful overtones of two theories seen as core 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 employed by the German far right to attack the "perversion" and "weakness" of the democratic Weimar Republic. The second is "The Great Replacement," published in 2011 by French novelist Renaud Camus, who translated long-existing "native" fears into a more overt conspiracy theory, alleging European elites of using immigration to replace restive "native" populations and import a more submissive and dependent electorate.

It is the nationalist fever dream encapsulated in both ideas that gives the Trump administration the authority, if not the obligation, to intervene in European affairs, the document suggests. And it is clear where it sees its allies: "The United States urges its ideological partners in Europe to promote this revival of spirit, and the growing clout of nationalist European parties in fact gives cause for significant hope."

The Goal: "Restore European Greatness"

Put simply, the US contends that it is key to its national security to "Restore European strength," and that the European far right is the only movement that can accomplish this. Therefore, its "overarching strategy for Europe" prioritises "cultivating resistance to Europe’s present path within European nations" – understood as the far right – and "building up the healthy nations of central, eastern, and southern Europe" – in particular "aligned countries that want to restore their past glory" – such as Hungary and Italy.

While the document stays vague on methods, it is apparent that a key aim is to push Europe to adopt a radical policy on freedom of speech, more aligned with the US model – especially regarding right-wing 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 explicitly called a future ally, the Trump administration evidently does not regard Russia as an enemy either.

An Ideological Precedent: The Monroe Doctrine

In a broader sense, the national security strategy draws its ideas less from the glorified US of the 1950s and more from the 1823 policy of 1823. Proclaimed by President James Monroe, this warned 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 "implement a Trump corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine, which involves the US "enlisting" countries worldwide that wish to help safeguard US national interests.

This is necessarily new – consider JD Vance’s speech 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 laid out in an formal document, European leaders will finally understand that the stance is grave. And if the document is too long or vague for them, it can be summarised in plain and succinct terms: the current US government holds 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 deliberate adversary. Now is time to act accordingly.