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On the exact date Donald Trump received a custom-made "award for peace" from his recent friend, FIFA president "Gianni" Infantino, his administration published an equally flamboyant security policy document. This fairly short report drips with pure Trump and Trumpism. It opens with the characteristically modest assertion that the president has rescued "our nation – and the world – back from the edge of disaster and ruin."

Even though the strategy mostly formalizes the ongoing actions and statements of Trump and his cabinet, it must be taken as a grave warning for the world, and for the European continent specifically.

A Blueprint of Interference and Cultural Anxiety

The document espouses an aggressive form of foreign-policy meddling where the US clearly sets the goal of "promoting European strength." Its language seems lifted straight from speeches by Viktor Orbán during the much-discussed migration emergency of 2015-16: "We want Europe to remain European, to regain its cultural self-confidence." Even more worryingly, the document claims that Europe's "financial downturn is eclipsed by the real and starker possibility of cultural extinction."

The whole section on Europe is imbued with decades of European right-wing ideology and propaganda. The EU and its migration policies are held responsible for "transforming the continent and causing strife, suppression of free speech and suppression of dissent, plummeting birthrates, and loss of sovereign identity 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 far from obvious whether certain European countries will have economic power and armed forces strong enough to remain reliable 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 authentic democracy, free speech, and proud celebrations of European nations’ individual character and history."

Core Ideas of the Far Right

These points carry powerful overtones of two theories regarded as core for modern far-right circles. The first is Oswald Spengler's "The Decline of the West," whose argument on the inevitable fall of civilizations was employed 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 translated long-existing "indigenous" fears into a more explicit conspiratorial narrative, alleging European elites of using immigration to substitute restive "native" populations and bring in a more docile and reliant electorate.

It is the nationalist fever dream contained in both ideas that gives the Trump administration the authority, if not the obligation, to interfere in European affairs, the document implies. And it is clear where it sees its allies: "The United States encourages its political allies in Europe to advance this resurgence of spirit, and the growing clout of nationalist European parties indeed gives cause for significant hope."

The Goal: "Make Europe Great Again"

In other words, the US contends that it is essential to its national security to "Restore European strength," and that the European far right is the only movement that can achieve this. Consequently, its "overarching strategy for Europe" focuses on "cultivating resistance to Europe’s present path within European nations" – understood as the far right – and "building up the healthy nations of central, eastern, and southern Europe" – in particular "aligned countries that want to reclaim their former greatness" – such as Hungary and Italy.

While the document remains unclear on implementation, it is obvious that a priority is to push Europe to adopt a sweeping policy on freedom of speech, closer to the US model – especially regarding right-wing speech – and not just on social media. Another is to normalize relations with Russia; or, as the document calls it, to "restore strategic stability with Russia." Although the country is not directly called a future ally, the Trump administration clearly does not regard Russia as an adversary either.

A Historical Precedent: The Monroe Doctrine

In a broader sense, the national security strategy takes its inspiration less from the idealized US of the 1950s and more from the Monroe Doctrine of 1823. Proclaimed by President James Monroe, this cautioned 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 corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine, which entails the US "enlisting" countries worldwide that wish to help protect US national interests.

This is entirely new – consider JD Vance’s address 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 official document, European leaders will finally realize that the situation is serious. And if the document is too long or imprecise for them, it can be condensed in clear and succinct terms: the current US government holds that its national security is best served by the demise of liberal democracy in Europe. To put it bluntly, the US is not only an reluctant ally; it is a willing adversary. It is time to respond appropriately.