🔗 Share this article

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

Even though the strategy largely formalizes the ongoing actions and statements of Trump and his team, it must be heeded as a grave caution for the world, and for Europe in particular.

A Blueprint of Interference and Civilizational Anxiety

The document espouses an assertive form of foreign-policy interference where the US clearly sets the goal of "promoting European strength." Its language could have been lifted straight from addresses by Viktor Orbán during the so-called migration emergency of 2015-16: "We want Europe to remain European, to regain its civilizational self-confidence." More ominously, the document states that Europe's "financial downturn is overshadowed by the genuine and starker prospect of cultural extinction."

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 "transforming the continent and creating conflict, suppression of free speech and suppression of dissent, plummeting birthrates, and loss of national identities and self-confidence." Per the document, if "current trajectories continue, the continent will be unrecognizable in 20 years or less. As such, it is far from obvious whether some European countries will have economies and armed forces powerful enough to remain reliable allies." Indeed, the Trump administration believes that "in a matter of years at the latest, certain NATO members will become majority non-European."

"U.S. foreign policy should continue to stand up for genuine democracy, free speech, and unapologetic commemorations of European nations’ unique heritage and past."

Core Ideas of the Right-Wing

These arguments carry strong echoes of two concepts regarded as core for contemporary right-wing circles. The first is Oswald Spengler's "Der Untergang des Abendlandes," whose thesis on the cyclical decline of civilizations was employed by the German far right to criticise the "perversion" and "weakness" of the democratic Weimar Republic. The second is "Le Grand Remplacement," published in 2011 by French novelist Renaud Camus, who translated long-existing "indigenous" fears into a more explicit conspiracy theory, alleging European elites of using immigration to substitute rebellious "indigenous" populations and bring in a more docile and dependent electorate.

It is the nativist fantasy encapsulated in both ideas that grants the Trump administration the authority, if not the duty, to intervene in European affairs, the document implies. And it is evident where it identifies its allies: "The United States encourages its ideological partners in Europe to advance this revival of national spirit, and the growing clout of patriotic European parties in fact gives cause for great optimism."

The Goal: "Make Europe Great Again"

Put simply, the US believes that it is key to its national security to "Restore European strength," and that the European far right is the sole movement that can accomplish this. Consequently, its "overarching strategy for Europe" prioritises "fostering resistance to Europe’s present path within European nations" – meaning the far right – and "strengthening the robust nations of central, eastern, and southern Europe" – specifically "aligned countries that want to reclaim their former greatness" – a clear reference to Hungary and Italy.

While the document remains unclear on methods, it is apparent that a key aim 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 normalise relations with Russia; or, as the document phrases it, to "restore strategic stability with Russia." Although the country is not explicitly called a future ally, the Trump administration clearly does not treat Russia as an adversary either.

An Ideological Blueprint: The Monroe Doctrine

In a wider context, the national security strategy takes its inspiration less from the glorified US of the 1950s and more from the 1823 policy 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 zone of influence. 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 protect US national interests.

This is necessarily new – consider JD Vance’s address at the 2025 Munich Security Conference, where the vice-president unleashed an assault on Europe’s democratic model. But maybe now that it is laid out in an formal document, European leaders will finally realize that the situation is grave. And if the document is too lengthy or vague for them, it can be summarised in clear 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 willing adversary. Now is time to act appropriately.