The 33-page document, personally signed by the president and posted on the official White House website, describes the continent as suffering from a toxic combination of mass immigration, collapsing birth rates, widespread censorship of free speech, suppression of political opposition, and a deliberate erosion of national identity and self-confidence. “Should present trends continue, the continent will be unrecognizable in 20 years or less,” the strategy states bluntly.
In one of its most striking passages, the administration declares that economic stagnation in Europe “is eclipsed by the real and more stark prospect of civilizational erasure” driven by migration policies that are “transforming the continent and creating strife.” It accuses European governments of allowing the rise of “no-go zones,” the silencing of dissent, and the loss of cultural cohesion.
The strategy explicitly condemns the European Union and other multilateral institutions for “subverting democratic processes” and “undermining political liberty and sovereignty.” It portrays Brussels as an unaccountable bureaucracy that has stripped member states of control over their own borders and laws, paving the way for what the document calls an existential crisis.
In response, the Trump administration pledges to actively “cultivate resistance to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations.” It expresses open optimism about the “growing influence of patriotic European parties,” a clear reference to right-wing, anti-immigration, and Eurosceptic movements that have gained ground from Sweden to Italy in recent years. While the document stops short of naming specific parties or leaders, President Trump and senior officials have repeatedly praised figures such as France’s Marine Le Pen, Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, and Germany’s Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), and Britain’s Reform UK.
The language mirrors long-standing themes from Trump’s political career. During his first term and throughout the 2024 campaign, he repeatedly warned that unchecked migration would destroy the cultural fabric of Western nations, promising the largest deportation operation in American history and vowing to protect “Western civilization” itself. The new strategy extends that worldview abroad, framing Europe’s demographic and political shifts as a cautionary tale for the United States.
Domestically, the administration has already taken drastic steps that align with the document’s worldview. Refugee admissions have been slashed by 94 percent compared with the final Biden years, with the annual cap now set at a historic low of 7,500. The vast majority of remaining slots have been reserved for white South African farmers, whom Trump has described as victims of “genocide” and “land confiscation.” Meanwhile, admissions from Haiti, Somalia, Syria, Afghanistan, and several Central American countries have been effectively frozen. Temporary Protected Status programs covering more than half a million people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela have been terminated, exposing hundreds of thousands to immediate deportation.
The strategy also reflects the administration’s broader skepticism of traditional alliances and multilateral commitments. While reaffirming that Trump is a “president of peace” who will “err on the side of non-interventionism,” it signals a dramatic reorientation of American power toward the Western Hemisphere, invoking the Monroe Doctrine and promising to treat migration and drug trafficking from Latin America as national-security threats on par with great-power competition.
Europe receives only passing mention in the context of the war in Ukraine, which the document describes as a “brief departure” from the larger civilizational concerns. The strategy makes clear that Washington expects European nations to shoulder the primary burden of supporting Kyiv, consistent with Trump’s repeated demands that NATO allies pay more for their own defense.
European leaders reacted with a mixture of outrage and alarm. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called the language “deeply irresponsible,” while French President Emmanuel Macron described it as “a direct attack on European democracy.” Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, often cited as a Trump ally, issued a more measured statement welcoming any American support for “strong national identities” but rejecting the idea that Europe is on the brink of collapse. In Brussels, EU officials promised a formal response next week, with one senior diplomat telling reporters off the record that the document “reads like a manifesto for the European far right.”
Within the United States, the strategy has deepened partisan divides. Republican leaders praised it as a “clear-eyed” assessment of global realities, while Democrats condemned it as xenophobic and isolationist. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer accused the administration of “exporting white nationalism” and warned that alienating Europe could hand strategic victories to Russia and China.
As the dust settles, the practical implications remain unclear. Administration officials have spoken privately about using trade leverage, selective diplomatic engagement, and even funding for like-minded think tanks and political movements to encourage the “patriotic resistance” the document celebrates. Whether that amounts to overt interference in European domestic politics or stays within the bounds of traditional public diplomacy will be one of the defining questions of Trump’s second term.
For now, the National Security Strategy stands as the clearest articulation yet of a worldview that sees the preservation of Western civilization not as a shared transatlantic project, but as a competitive struggle in which the United States must choose sides — and Europe, in its current form, may no longer be on the right one.
