America: More Than Just the Continent's Unwilling Partner, But a Foe Steeped in Far-Right Ideology

On the exact date Donald Trump received a tailor-made "award for peace" from his recent friend, FIFA president "Gianni" Infantino, his administration released an equally ostentatious security policy document. This relatively brief paper is saturated with pure Trump and Trumpism. It opens with the characteristically humble claim that the president has brought back "the United States and the globe – back from the edge of catastrophe and disaster."

Even though the strategy largely formalizes the ongoing actions and rhetoric of Trump and his cabinet, it must be heeded as a serious warning for the international community, and for the European continent specifically.

A Strategy of Intervention and Civilizational Anxiety

The document espouses an aggressive form of foreign-policy interference where the US explicitly sets the goal of "fostering European greatness." Its rhetoric could have been taken directly from addresses by Viktor Orbán during the so-called migration emergency of 2015-16: "Our desire is for Europe to remain European, to regain its civilizational self-confidence." More worryingly, the document claims that Europe's "financial downturn is overshadowed by the real and more stark prospect of cultural extinction."

The entire section dedicated to Europe is imbued with generations of European far-right dogma and propaganda. The EU and its migration policies are held responsible for "transforming the continent and causing strife, suppression of free expression and stifling of dissent, cratering 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 certain European countries will have economic power and armed forces strong enough to remain reliable allies." In fact, the Trump administration believes that "in a matter of years at the latest, some NATO members will become predominantly non-European."

"U.S. foreign policy should continue to champion genuine democracy, freedom of expression, and proud celebrations of European nations’ unique heritage and past."

Foundational Ideas of the Far Right

These arguments carry powerful echoes of two theories seen 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 used by the German far right to attack the "perversion" 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 conspiratorial narrative, alleging European elites of using immigration to substitute restive "native" populations and bring in a more docile and dependent electorate.

It is the nativist fantasy contained in both ideas that grants the Trump administration the authority, if not the obligation, to intervene in European affairs, the document suggests. And it is clear where it identifies its allies: "America urges its ideological partners in Europe to advance this revival of national spirit, and the growing influence of nationalist European parties in fact gives cause for great optimism."

The Objective: "Restore European Greatness"

Put simply, 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 political force that can accomplish this. Consequently, 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 reclaim their past glory" – such as Hungary and Italy.

While the document remains unclear on implementation, it is obvious that a priority is to pressure Europe to adopt a radical 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 "reestablish strategic stability with Russia." Although the country is not explicitly called a future ally, the Trump administration evidently does not treat Russia as an enemy either.

An Ideological Precedent: The Monroe Doctrine

In a wider context, the national security strategy draws its ideas 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 interfere in the "western hemisphere," which he declared to be the US’s zone of influence. The Trump administration’s policy document promises to "implement a Trump addition" to the Monroe Doctrine, which entails the US "recruiting" countries worldwide that wish to help protect US national interests.

This is entirely new – recall JD Vance’s address at the 2025 Munich Security Conference, where the vice-president launched an ideological attack on Europe’s democratic model. But maybe now that it is published in an formal document, European leaders will at last realize that the stance is grave. And if the document is too lengthy or imprecise for them, it can be condensed in clear and concise terms: the current US government believes that its national security is best served by the destruction of liberal democracy in Europe. In other words, the US is not only an reluctant ally; it is a deliberate adversary. It is time to act accordingly.