🔗 Share this article

On the exact date Donald Trump was presented with a custom-made "award for peace" from his newest ally, FIFA president "Gianni" Infantino, his administration published an equally ostentatious security policy document. This fairly brief paper drips with pure Trump and Trumpism. It begins with the characteristically humble assertion that the president has brought back "our nation – and the world – back from the edge of catastrophe and ruin."

Even though the document largely formalizes the current actions and rhetoric of Trump and his cabinet, it must be taken as a serious caution for the world, and for the European continent specifically.

A Strategy of Interference and Cultural Anxiety

The document espouses an aggressive form of foreign-policy meddling where the US explicitly sets the goal of "fostering European strength." Its language seems lifted straight from speeches by Viktor Orbán during the so-called migration emergency of 2015-16: "We want Europe to remain European, to regain its civilizational self-confidence." Even more worryingly, the document states that Europe's "financial downturn is eclipsed by the real and starker prospect of cultural extinction."

The entire section on Europe is steeped in generations of European far-right dogma and rhetoric. The EU and its migration policies are blamed for "changing the continent and causing conflict, 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 unrecognizable in 20 years or less. As such, it is far from obvious whether certain European countries will have economies and armed forces powerful enough to be reliable allies." Indeed, the Trump administration asserts that "within a few decades at the latest, some NATO members will become majority non-European."

"American diplomacy should continue to stand up for authentic democracy, freedom of expression, and unapologetic celebrations of European nations’ individual character and past."

Core Ideas of the Far Right

These points carry strong echoes of two theories regarded as core for modern far-right 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 criticise 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 explicit conspiracy theory, alleging European elites of using immigration to replace restive "native" populations and bring in a more submissive and dependent electorate.

It is the nativist fantasy contained in both ideas that grants the Trump administration the right, if not the duty, to intervene in European affairs, the document suggests. And it is evident where it identifies its allies: "The United States encourages its ideological partners in Europe to promote this revival of national spirit, and the growing clout of nationalist European parties in fact gives cause for significant hope."

The Objective: "Restore European Greatness"

Put simply, 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 political force that can achieve this. Therefore, its "broad policy for Europe" focuses on "cultivating resistance 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 methods, it is obvious that a key aim is to pressure Europe to adopt a sweeping 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 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 enemy either.

A Historical Blueprint: 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 declared to be the US’s zone of influence. The Trump administration’s policy document vows to "assert and enforce a Trump addition" to the Monroe Doctrine, which involves the US "recruiting" countries worldwide that wish to help safeguard US national interests.

None of this is entirely 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 published in an official document, European leaders will at last realize that the situation is serious. And if the document is too lengthy or vague for them, it can be condensed in clear and succinct terms: the current US government believes that its national security is most enhanced by the demise of liberal democracy in Europe. In other words, the US is not just an reluctant ally; it is a deliberate adversary. Now is time to respond appropriately.