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On the very date Donald Trump was presented with a custom-made "award for peace" from his recent ally, FIFA president "Johnny" Infantino, his administration published an similarly ostentatious security policy document. This relatively brief report drips with pure Trump and Trumpism. It opens with the typically modest claim that the president has brought back "the United States and the globe – back from the edge of catastrophe and disaster."

Even though the document largely codifies the ongoing policies and rhetoric of Trump and his team, it must be heeded as a serious warning for the international community, and for Europe specifically.

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 "fostering European greatness." Its rhetoric seems taken directly from addresses by Viktor Orbán during the much-discussed refugee crisis of 2015-16: "Our desire is for Europe to stay European, to reclaim its civilizational self-assurance." More worryingly, the document states that Europe's "economic decline is eclipsed by the genuine and more stark possibility of civilizational erasure."

The entire section on Europe is steeped in decades of European right-wing dogma and rhetoric. The EU and its migration policies are blamed for "changing the continent and creating strife, suppression of free expression and suppression of dissent, plummeting birthrates, and loss 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 economies and militaries powerful enough to remain dependable allies." Indeed, the Trump administration believes that "in a matter of years at the latest, certain NATO members will become predominantly non-European."

"U.S. foreign policy should continue to stand up for authentic democracy, freedom of expression, and unapologetic celebrations of European nations’ unique heritage and past."

Core Ideas of the Right-Wing

These points carry powerful echoes of two concepts regarded as foundational for contemporary far-right circles. The first is Oswald Spengler's "The Decline of the West," whose thesis on the cyclical decline of civilizations was used 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 translated long-existing "native" fears into a more overt conspiracy theory, 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 authority, if not the obligation, to interfere in European affairs, the document implies. And it is evident where it identifies its allies: "America urges its ideological partners in Europe to promote this revival of spirit, and the growing influence of patriotic European parties in fact gives cause for great optimism."

The Goal: "Make Europe Great Again"

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 achieve this. Consequently, its "broad policy for Europe" prioritises "fostering resistance to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations" – meaning the far right – and "building up the healthy nations of central, eastern, and southern Europe" – in particular "aligned countries that want to reclaim their past glory" – a clear reference to Hungary and Italy.

While the document stays unclear on implementation, it is obvious that a priority is to pressure 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 adversary either.

An Ideological Precedent: The Monroe Doctrine

In a broader sense, the national security strategy takes its inspiration less from the glorified US of the 1950s and more from the Monroe Doctrine of 1823. Articulated by President James Monroe, this cautioned 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 promises to "assert and enforce a Trump corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine, which involves the US "recruiting" countries worldwide that wish to help safeguard US national interests.

This is necessarily new – recall JD Vance’s speech at the 2025 Munich Security Conference, where the vice-president launched 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 grave. And if the document is too long or imprecise for them, it can be condensed 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. To put it bluntly, the US is not only an reluctant ally; it is a willing adversary. Now is time to act accordingly.