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On the very day Donald Trump was presented with a tailor-made "award for peace" from his recent friend, FIFA president "Johnny" Infantino, his administration published an equally ostentatious security policy document. This relatively short report is saturated with pure Trump and Trumpism. It opens with the characteristically modest assertion that the president has brought back "the United States and the globe – back from the edge of catastrophe and ruin."

Even though the document mostly formalizes the current actions and statements of Trump and his cabinet, it must be taken as a grave caution for the world, and for Europe in particular.

A Strategy of Interference and Cultural Anxiety

The document advocates for an assertive form of foreign-policy interference where the US clearly sets the goal of "promoting European strength." Its rhetoric could have been taken 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-assurance." More worryingly, the document states that Europe's "financial downturn is overshadowed by the genuine and starker prospect of civilizational erasure."

The entire section dedicated to Europe is steeped in generations of European right-wing ideology and rhetoric. The EU and its migration policies are held responsible for "changing the continent and causing strife, censorship of free expression and stifling of political opposition, cratering birthrates, and erosion of sovereign identity and self-confidence." According to the document, if "present trends continue, the continent will be unrecognisable in 20 years or less. As such, it is far from obvious whether certain European countries will have economies and militaries powerful enough to remain reliable allies." Indeed, the Trump administration believes that "within a few decades at the latest, some NATO members will become majority non-European."

"American diplomacy should continue to champion genuine democracy, free speech, and unapologetic commemorations of European nations’ unique heritage and past."

Core Ideas of the Right-Wing

These arguments carry powerful overtones of two theories seen as core for contemporary right-wing circles. The first is Oswald Spengler's "The Decline of the West," whose argument on the inevitable fall of civilizations was used by the German far right to attack 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, accusing European elites of using immigration to substitute rebellious "native" populations and bring in a more docile and dependent electorate.

It is the nativist fever dream contained in both ideas that grants the Trump administration the right, if not the duty, to interfere in European affairs, the document implies. And it is clear where it identifies its allies: "The United States encourages its ideological partners in Europe to advance this resurgence 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 key to its national security to "Make Europe great again," and that the European far right is the only movement that can achieve this. Therefore, its "broad policy for Europe" focuses on "cultivating resistance to Europe’s present path within European nations" – meaning the far right – and "building up the robust nations of central, eastern, and southern Europe" – in particular "aligned countries that want to restore their past glory" – such as Hungary and Italy.

While the document stays vague on methods, it is obvious that a key aim is to push Europe to adopt a sweeping 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 explicitly called a future ally, the Trump administration clearly does not regard Russia as an enemy either.

An Ideological Precedent: 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 proclaimed to be the US’s zone of influence. The Trump administration’s policy document vows to "assert and enforce a Trump corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine, which entails the US "recruiting" countries worldwide that wish to help safeguard US national interests.

This is entirely new – consider 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 laid out in an formal document, European leaders will at last realize that the situation is serious. And if the document is too lengthy or imprecise for them, it can be condensed in clear and concise terms: the current US government holds that its national security is most enhanced by the destruction of liberal democracy in Europe. To put it bluntly, the US is not only an reluctant ally; it is a deliberate adversary. Now is time to respond accordingly.