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On the exact day Donald Trump received a tailor-made "award for peace" from his recent friend, FIFA president "Johnny" Infantino, his government released an similarly flamboyant security policy document. This relatively short paper drips with the essence of Trump and Trumpism. It opens with the typically humble claim that the president has brought back "our nation – and the world – back from the brink of disaster and disaster."

Even though the document mostly formalizes the ongoing policies and rhetoric of Trump and his team, it must be heeded as a grave warning for the international community, and for Europe in particular.

A Blueprint of Interference and Cultural Anxiety

The document advocates for an aggressive form of foreign-policy meddling where the US clearly sets the goal of "promoting European greatness." Its language could have been taken straight from addresses by the Hungarian Prime Minister during the much-discussed migration emergency of 2015-16: "We want Europe to remain European, to reclaim its civilizational self-assurance." More ominously, the document claims that Europe's "financial downturn is overshadowed by the real and starker possibility of civilizational erasure."

The entire section on Europe is steeped in decades of European right-wing ideology and propaganda. The EU and its migration policies are held responsible for "changing the continent and creating conflict, suppression of free speech and suppression of dissent, cratering birthrates, and erosion of national identities and self-belief." According to the document, if "present trends continue, the continent will be unrecognizable in 20 years or less. As such, it is not at all clear whether certain European countries will have economic power and militaries powerful enough to remain reliable allies." Indeed, the Trump administration asserts that "within a few decades at the latest, certain NATO members will become majority non-European."

"U.S. foreign policy should continue to champion genuine democracy, free speech, and proud celebrations of European nations’ unique heritage and history."

Core Theories of the Right-Wing

These arguments carry powerful echoes of two concepts seen as core for modern far-right circles. The first is Oswald Spengler's "Der Untergang des Abendlandes," whose argument on the cyclical decline of civilizations was employed by the German far right to criticise 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 conspiracy theory, accusing European elites of using immigration to replace restive "indigenous" populations and bring in 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 suggests. And it is evident where it identifies its allies: "America encourages its ideological partners in Europe to advance this revival of spirit, and the increasing clout of patriotic European parties in fact gives cause for great optimism."

The Goal: "Restore European Greatness"

Put simply, the US believes that it is essential to its national security to "Restore European strength," and that the European far right is the sole political force that can accomplish this. Consequently, its "broad policy for Europe" focuses on "cultivating opposition to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations" – meaning the far right – and "building up the robust nations of central, eastern, and southern Europe" – specifically "nations in agreement that want to restore their former greatness" – a clear reference to Hungary and Italy.

While the document remains vague on methods, 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 right-wing speech – and not just on 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 directly called a future ally, the Trump administration clearly does not treat 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. Articulated by President James Monroe, this cautioned European powers not to meddle in the "Americas," which he proclaimed to be the US’s sphere of interest. The Trump administration’s policy document vows to "implement a Trump corollary" 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 unleashed an ideological attack on Europe’s democratic model. But perhaps now that it is published in an formal document, European leaders will finally understand that the situation is serious. And if the document is too lengthy or vague for them, it can be summarised in plain and succinct terms: the current US government believes that its national security is most enhanced by the destruction of liberal democracy in Europe. To put it bluntly, the US is not just an reluctant ally; it is a deliberate adversary. Now is time to act accordingly.