🔗 Share this article

On the exact day Donald Trump received a tailor-made "award for peace" from his newest friend, FIFA president "Johnny" Infantino, his administration released an equally ostentatious national security strategy. This relatively short paper is saturated with the essence of Trump and Trumpism. It opens with the characteristically humble assertion that the president has rescued "the United States and the globe – back from the edge of disaster and disaster."

Even though the strategy largely formalizes the ongoing policies and statements of Trump and his team, it must be taken as a grave caution for the international community, and for the European continent in particular.

A Strategy of Intervention and Civilizational Fear

The document advocates for an assertive form of foreign-policy interference where the US clearly sets the goal of "promoting European greatness." Its rhetoric could have been lifted directly from addresses by Viktor Orbán during the so-called migration emergency of 2015-16: "Our desire is for Europe to remain European, to reclaim its cultural self-assurance." More worryingly, the document claims that Europe's "financial downturn is overshadowed by the real and starker prospect of cultural extinction."

The entire section on Europe is imbued with generations of European far-right ideology and rhetoric. The EU and its migration policies are held responsible for "changing the continent and causing conflict, censorship of free speech and stifling of dissent, cratering birthrates, and erosion of national identities and self-belief." Per the document, if "present trends continue, the continent will be unrecognizable in 20 years or less. As such, it is far from obvious whether some European countries will have economies and militaries powerful 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 stand up for genuine democracy, free speech, and unapologetic commemorations of European nations’ unique heritage and history."

Core Ideas of the Right-Wing

These points carry powerful echoes of two concepts regarded as foundational for modern right-wing circles. The first is Oswald Spengler's "Der Untergang des Abendlandes," whose thesis on the inevitable fall of civilizations was employed by the German far right to criticise the "decadence" and "enfeeblement" of the democratic Weimar Republic. The second is "The Great Replacement," released in 2011 by French novelist Renaud Camus, who transformed long-existing "native" fears into a more explicit conspiratorial narrative, alleging European elites of using immigration to substitute restive "native" populations and import a more submissive and reliant electorate.

It is the nativist fantasy contained 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 encourages its political allies in Europe to promote this revival of national spirit, and the growing clout of patriotic European parties in fact gives cause for significant hope."

The Goal: "Make Europe Great Again"

In other words, the US contends that it is key to its national security to "Make Europe great again," and that the European far right is the sole movement that can accomplish this. Consequently, its "overarching strategy for Europe" prioritises "fostering opposition to Europe’s present path within European nations" – understood as the far right – and "building up the robust nations of central, eastern, and southern Europe" – in particular "aligned countries that want to reclaim their past glory" – a clear reference to Hungary and Italy.

While the document remains unclear on implementation, it is obvious 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 far-right speech – and not limited to social media. Another is to normalize relations with Russia; or, as the document phrases it, to "restore strategic stability with Russia." Although the country is not explicitly called a future ally, the Trump administration evidently does not treat Russia as an adversary 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. Proclaimed by President James Monroe, this warned 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 "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.

None of this is necessarily new – recall JD Vance’s speech at the 2025 Munich Security Conference, where the vice-president launched an assault 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 serious. And if the document is too lengthy or vague for them, it can be summarised in clear and succinct 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 reluctant ally; it is a willing adversary. Now is time to respond appropriately.