The Guardian

Don’t say you weren’t warned: Trump’s new national security strategy seeks to destroy liberal democracy as we know it.

On the same day that Donald Trump received his made-to-order “peace prize” from his newest pal, Fifa president “Johnny” Infantino, his administration published an equally gaudy national security strategy. The relatively short document oozes Trump and Trumpism. (...)

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Gianni Infantino (right) presents Donald Trump with a medal and trophy at the 2026 World Cup draw ceremony in Washington, 5 December 2025. Photograph: Deccio Serrano/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

The whole section on Europe is steeped in decades of European far-right ideology and propaganda. The EU and migration policies are held responsible for “transforming the continent and creating strife, censorship of free speech and suppression of political opposition, cratering birthrates, and loss of national identities and self-confidence”. (...)

These are arguments that have strong overtones of two theories 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 civilisations was used by the German far right to criticise the “perversion” and “weakness” of the democratic Weimar republic. The second is The Great Replacement, published in 2011, by the French novelist Renaud Camus, who translated long-existing “native” fears into a more explicit conspiracy theory, accusing European elites of using immigration to replace the rebellious “native” populations and import a more docile and dependent electorate. In the past decade, the “great replacement” conspiracy theory has become mainstream within US rightwing circles. (...)

None of this is necessarily new – think of JD Vance’s speech at the 2025 Munich Security Conference in which 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 understand that “daddy” is serious. And, if the document is too long or vague for them, let me summarise it in terms that are clear and concise: 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 (just) an unwilling ally, it is a willing adversary. Time to act accordingly.

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Tags: #europe #eu #european union #trump #us #united states #foreign policy #spengler #renaud camus #great replacement #far right #extreme right #russia #ukraine #putin