🔗 Share this article

On the very date Donald Trump was presented with a custom-made "peace prize" from his newest ally, FIFA president "Johnny" Infantino, his government published an similarly flamboyant security policy document. This relatively brief report drips with the essence of Trump and Trumpism. It begins with the typically modest claim that the president has rescued "our nation – and the world – back from the brink of disaster and disaster."

Even though the strategy mostly formalizes the ongoing actions and rhetoric of Trump and his team, it must be heeded as a grave caution for the international community, and for the European continent specifically.

A Blueprint of Intervention and Cultural Anxiety

The document espouses an assertive form of foreign-policy interference where the US explicitly sets the goal of "promoting European greatness." Its rhetoric could have been taken straight from speeches by the Hungarian Prime Minister during the so-called migration emergency of 2015-16: "We want Europe to remain European, to reclaim its civilizational self-assurance." Even more worryingly, the document claims that Europe's "economic decline is eclipsed by the real and more stark prospect of cultural extinction."

The whole section dedicated to Europe is steeped in generations of European right-wing ideology and rhetoric. The EU and its migration policies are blamed for "transforming the continent and causing conflict, suppression of free expression and suppression of dissent, plummeting birthrates, and loss of national identities and self-belief." According to the document, if "current trajectories 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 "in a matter of years at the latest, some NATO members will become majority non-European."

"American diplomacy should continue to champion authentic democracy, freedom of expression, and unapologetic celebrations of European nations’ unique heritage and history."

Core Theories of the Right-Wing

These points carry strong echoes of two theories regarded as foundational for contemporary right-wing circles. The first is Oswald Spengler's "The Decline of the West," whose thesis 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 "Le Grand Remplacement," released in 2011 by French novelist Renaud Camus, who transformed long-existing "native" fears into a more overt conspiratorial narrative, accusing European elites of using immigration to replace restive "indigenous" 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 authority, if not the duty, to intervene in European affairs, the document implies. And it is clear where it sees its allies: "The United States urges its political allies in Europe to promote this revival of spirit, and the growing influence of patriotic European parties indeed gives cause for significant hope."

The Goal: "Restore European Greatness"

In other words, the US contends that it is key to its national security to "Restore European strength," and that the European far right is the sole movement that can accomplish this. Consequently, its "broad policy for Europe" focuses on "cultivating resistance to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations" – understood as the far right – and "strengthening the healthy nations of central, eastern, and southern Europe" – in particular "aligned countries that want to reclaim their former greatness" – a clear reference to Hungary and Italy.

While the document remains vague on implementation, it is obvious that a key aim is to pressure Europe to adopt a radical policy on freedom of speech, more aligned with the US model – particularly regarding far-right speech – and not limited to social media. Another is to normalise 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 clearly does not regard Russia as an enemy either.

An Ideological Blueprint: 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 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 addition" to the Monroe Doctrine, which involves the US "enlisting" countries worldwide that wish to help protect US national interests.

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 maybe now that it is laid out in an formal document, European leaders will at last understand that the situation is serious. And if the document is too long or imprecise 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. In other words, the US is not only an unwilling ally; it is a deliberate adversary. It is time to respond appropriately.