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On the exact day Donald Trump received a custom-made "award for peace" from his recent ally, FIFA president "Johnny" Infantino, his government published an similarly ostentatious security policy document. This fairly short paper is saturated with pure Trump and Trumpism. It begins with the typically modest assertion that the president has brought back "our nation – and the world – back from the brink of catastrophe and disaster."

Even though the document mostly codifies the ongoing actions and statements of Trump and his cabinet, it must be heeded as a grave warning for the international community, and for the European continent in particular.

A Blueprint of Intervention and Cultural Fear

The document espouses an assertive form of foreign-policy interference where the US explicitly sets the goal of "promoting European strength." Its language could have been lifted straight from addresses by the Hungarian Prime Minister during the much-discussed refugee crisis of 2015-16: "Our desire is for Europe to remain European, to reclaim its cultural self-confidence." Even more worryingly, the document states that Europe's "financial downturn is overshadowed by the genuine and more stark possibility of civilizational erasure."

The entire section dedicated to Europe is imbued with generations of European right-wing ideology and propaganda. The EU and its migration policies are held responsible for "changing the continent and creating strife, suppression of free expression and stifling of political opposition, plummeting birthrates, and loss of national identities and self-confidence." According to the document, if "current trajectories continue, the continent will be unrecognisable in 20 years or less. As such, it is not at all clear whether some European countries will have economies and armed forces powerful 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."

"U.S. foreign policy should continue to champion genuine democracy, free speech, and proud commemorations of European nations’ individual character and history."

Core Ideas of the Far Right

These points carry strong overtones of two concepts regarded as foundational for contemporary right-wing circles. The first is Oswald Spengler's "The Decline of the West," 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 "Le Grand Remplacement," published in 2011 by French novelist Renaud Camus, who transformed long-existing "indigenous" fears into a more overt conspiratorial narrative, alleging European elites of using immigration to replace restive "indigenous" populations and import a more docile and dependent electorate.

It is the nationalist fever dream contained in both ideas that grants the Trump administration the right, if not the duty, to intervene in European affairs, the document implies. And it is clear where it identifies its allies: "America urges its political allies in Europe to promote this revival of spirit, and the increasing clout of patriotic European parties in fact gives cause for significant hope."

The Objective: "Restore European Greatness"

In other words, 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" focuses on "fostering opposition to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations" – meaning the far right – and "strengthening the robust nations of central, eastern, and southern Europe" – in particular "nations in agreement that want to reclaim their past glory" – such as Hungary and Italy.

While the document stays unclear on methods, it is obvious that a priority is to push Europe to adopt a radical policy on freedom of speech, closer to the US model – particularly regarding far-right speech – and not limited to social media. Another is to normalize relations with Russia; or, as the document calls 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 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 Monroe Doctrine of 1823. Articulated by President James Monroe, this warned European powers not to interfere 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 entails the US "enlisting" countries worldwide that wish to help safeguard US national interests.

None of this is necessarily new – consider JD Vance’s address 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 official document, European leaders will finally realize that the stance is serious. And if the document is too lengthy or vague for them, it can be condensed in plain and concise terms: the current US government holds that its national security is most enhanced by the demise of liberal democracy in Europe. To put it bluntly, the US is not only an unwilling ally; it is a deliberate adversary. Now is time to respond appropriately.