🔗 Share this article

On the very date Donald Trump received a tailor-made "award for peace" from his recent friend, FIFA president "Gianni" Infantino, his government released an equally flamboyant security policy document. This fairly brief paper is saturated with the essence of Trump and Trumpism. It opens with the characteristically modest claim that the president has rescued "our nation – and the world – back from the edge of catastrophe and ruin."

Even though the strategy mostly codifies the current policies and statements of Trump and his cabinet, it must be taken as a grave warning for the international community, and for Europe specifically.

A Blueprint of Intervention and Civilizational Anxiety

The document espouses an aggressive form of foreign-policy meddling where the US clearly sets the goal of "promoting European greatness." Its rhetoric seems taken directly from addresses by Viktor Orbán during the so-called refugee crisis of 2015-16: "We want Europe to stay European, to reclaim its civilizational self-confidence." Even more ominously, the document states that Europe's "economic decline is eclipsed by the real and starker possibility of civilizational erasure."

The whole section on Europe is steeped in generations of European right-wing ideology and propaganda. The EU and its migration policies are held responsible for "transforming the continent and causing conflict, censorship of free speech and suppression of dissent, plummeting birthrates, and loss of national identities and self-belief." Per the document, if "current trajectories continue, the continent will be unrecognizable in 20 years or less. As such, it is not at all clear whether some European countries will have economies and armed forces strong enough to be reliable allies." In fact, the Trump administration asserts that "within a few decades at the latest, certain NATO members will become predominantly non-European."

"American diplomacy should continue to champion genuine democracy, free speech, and proud celebrations of European nations’ unique heritage and past."

Core Theories of the Far Right

These points carry strong echoes of two concepts seen as foundational for modern far-right circles. The first is Oswald Spengler's "The Decline of the West," whose argument on the inevitable fall of civilizations was employed 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, accusing European elites of using immigration to replace restive "native" populations and import a more submissive and reliant electorate.

It is the nativist fever dream contained in both ideas that grants the Trump administration the right, if not the duty, to interfere in European affairs, the document implies. And it is evident where it sees its allies: "The United States urges its ideological partners in Europe to promote this resurgence of spirit, and the growing influence of patriotic European parties indeed gives cause for great optimism."

The Goal: "Make Europe Great Again"

Put simply, the US believes that it is essential to its national security to "Restore European strength," and that the European far right is the only movement that can accomplish this. Therefore, its "broad policy for Europe" prioritises "cultivating resistance to Europe’s present path within European nations" – meaning the far right – and "building up the healthy nations of central, eastern, and southern Europe" – specifically "aligned countries that want to reclaim their past glory" – such as Hungary and Italy.

While the document stays unclear on implementation, it is apparent that a priority is to push Europe to adopt a radical policy on freedom of speech, more aligned with the US model – particularly regarding far-right speech – and not just on social media. Another is to normalize 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 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 idealized US of the 1950s and more from the Monroe Doctrine of 1823. Articulated by President James Monroe, this cautioned European powers not to meddle in the "Americas," which he declared to be the US’s zone of influence. The Trump administration’s policy document promises to "implement a Trump corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine, which involves the US "enlisting" countries worldwide that wish to help safeguard US national interests.

None of this is entirely new – consider JD Vance’s address at the 2025 Munich Security Conference, where the vice-president launched an ideological attack on Europe’s democratic model. But perhaps now that it is published in an official document, European leaders will at last understand that the stance is grave. And if the document is too long or vague 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. In other words, the US is not just an unwilling ally; it is a deliberate adversary. It is time to respond accordingly.