America: More Than Just the Continent's Reluctant Ally, But Rather a Adversary Steeped in Far-Right Ideology

On the exact day Donald Trump was presented with a tailor-made "peace prize" from his newest friend, FIFA president "Johnny" Infantino, his government published an similarly ostentatious national security strategy. This relatively short report is saturated with pure Trump and Trumpism. It opens with the typically humble claim that the president has rescued "our nation – and the world – back from the edge of catastrophe and disaster."

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

A Strategy of Interference and Civilizational Anxiety

The document espouses an aggressive form of foreign-policy meddling where the US clearly sets the goal of "fostering European strength." Its rhetoric could have been lifted directly from addresses by Viktor Orbán during the so-called migration emergency of 2015-16: "We want Europe to stay European, to regain its cultural self-confidence." More ominously, the document claims that Europe's "financial downturn is eclipsed by the genuine and more stark possibility of cultural extinction."

The whole section on Europe is imbued with decades of European far-right dogma and rhetoric. The EU and its migration policies are blamed for "changing the continent and creating strife, suppression of free speech and suppression of political opposition, plummeting birthrates, and erosion of national identities and self-belief." Per the document, if "current trajectories continue, the continent will be unrecognisable in 20 years or less. As such, it is not at all clear whether certain European countries will have economies and armed forces strong enough to remain dependable allies." In fact, the Trump administration asserts 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 genuine democracy, freedom of expression, and unapologetic celebrations of European nations’ individual character and history."

Foundational Ideas of the Right-Wing

These arguments carry powerful echoes of two concepts regarded as foundational for contemporary right-wing 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," published in 2011 by French novelist Renaud Camus, who translated long-existing "indigenous" fears into a more overt conspiracy theory, alleging European elites of using immigration to replace restive "native" populations and import a more docile and dependent electorate.

It is the nationalist 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 evident where it sees its allies: "The United States encourages its political allies in Europe to advance this resurgence of national spirit, and the increasing influence of patriotic European parties indeed gives cause for significant hope."

The Objective: "Make Europe Great Again"

In other words, the US believes that it is essential to its national security to "Restore European strength," and that the European far right is the only movement that can accomplish this. Consequently, its "overarching strategy 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" – specifically "nations in agreement that want to reclaim their former greatness" – a clear reference to Hungary and Italy.

While the document remains vague on implementation, it is apparent that a key aim 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 limited to social media. Another is to normalise relations with Russia; or, as the document phrases it, to "reestablish strategic stability with Russia." Although the country is not directly called a future ally, the Trump administration evidently does not treat Russia as an enemy either.

An Ideological Blueprint: 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 vows to "implement a Trump corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine, which entails the US "enlisting" countries worldwide that wish to help safeguard US national interests.

This is necessarily new – recall 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 published in an formal document, European leaders will at last understand that the stance is grave. And if the document is too long or imprecise for them, it can be condensed in plain and concise terms: the current US government holds that its national security is most enhanced by the destruction of liberal democracy in Europe. In other words, the US is not only an unwilling ally; it is a deliberate adversary. It is time to act accordingly.