🔗 Share this article

On the very date Donald Trump received a tailor-made "peace prize" from his recent friend, FIFA president "Gianni" Infantino, his government released an equally ostentatious security policy document. This fairly brief paper drips with the essence of Trump and Trumpism. It begins with the characteristically modest assertion that the president has rescued "our nation – and the world – back from the brink of disaster and ruin."

Even though the strategy largely formalizes the current policies and rhetoric of Trump and his cabinet, it must be heeded as a grave caution for the international community, and for Europe specifically.

A Strategy of Interference and Civilizational Fear

The document advocates for an aggressive form of foreign-policy interference where the US clearly sets the goal of "fostering European greatness." Its rhetoric seems taken straight from speeches by Viktor Orbán during the much-discussed refugee crisis of 2015-16: "We want Europe to remain European, to reclaim its civilizational self-assurance." Even more worryingly, the document claims that Europe's "financial downturn is eclipsed by the genuine and more stark prospect of cultural extinction."

The whole section dedicated to Europe is steeped in generations of European far-right ideology and propaganda. The EU and its migration policies are held responsible for "transforming the continent and creating conflict, suppression of free speech and stifling of dissent, plummeting birthrates, and loss of sovereign identity and self-confidence." According to the document, if "current trajectories 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 armed forces strong enough to remain dependable allies." In fact, 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 genuine democracy, freedom of expression, and unapologetic celebrations of European nations’ unique heritage and history."

Foundational Ideas of the Right-Wing

These arguments carry strong overtones 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 attack the "decadence" and "enfeeblement" 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 explicit conspiratorial narrative, accusing European elites of using immigration to substitute restive "indigenous" populations and import a more docile and reliant electorate.

It is the nativist fantasy encapsulated in both ideas that grants the Trump administration the authority, if not the obligation, to interfere in European affairs, the document implies. And it is evident where it sees its allies: "The United States urges its political allies in Europe to advance this revival of spirit, and the increasing influence of patriotic European parties indeed gives cause for great optimism."

The Goal: "Make Europe Great Again"

In other words, the US believes 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 achieve this. Consequently, its "broad policy for Europe" focuses on "cultivating resistance to Europe’s present path within European nations" – understood as the far right – and "strengthening the robust nations of central, eastern, and southern Europe" – specifically "nations in agreement 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 priority 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 just on social media. Another is to normalise 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 treat Russia as an enemy either.

An Ideological Blueprint: The Monroe Doctrine

In a wider context, the national security strategy takes its inspiration less from the idealized US of the 1950s and more from the 1823 policy of 1823. Articulated by President James Monroe, this warned European powers not to meddle in the "western hemisphere," which he proclaimed to be the US’s zone of influence. The Trump administration’s policy document promises to "assert and enforce a Trump addition" to the Monroe Doctrine, which entails the US "enlisting" countries worldwide that wish to help protect US national interests.

This is entirely new – recall 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 published 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 condensed in clear and concise terms: the current US government believes that its national security is best served by the demise of liberal democracy in Europe. In other words, the US is not just an unwilling ally; it is a deliberate adversary. Now is time to act accordingly.