Will Trump’s new security doctrine boost the rise of far right in Europe?

United States President Donald Trump’s medication claims Europe is facing “civilisational erasure” owed to wide migration, a communicative often utilized by far-right parties to drum up enactment during elections connected the continent.

In a 33-page “national information strategy” papers released precocious connected Thursday, the Trump medication accused the European Union (EU) of “undermining governmental liberty and sovereignty” and insisted connected the request for US “preeminence” successful the Western Hemisphere.

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Here’s what we know:

Does the Trump administration’s ‘strategy’ align with Europe’s acold right?

One conception of the NSS papers called “Promoting European Greatness” highlights the continent’s decreasing stock successful the world’s gross home merchandise (GDP) but goes connected to assertion that the continent’s economical diminution is “eclipsed by the existent and much stark imaginable of civilisational erasure”.

The papers states that Europe’s migration policies “are transforming the continent and creating strife” which includes the “censorship of escaped code and suppression of governmental opposition, cratering birthrates, and nonaccomplishment of nationalist identities and self-confidence”.

Some European politicians are claiming that this connection aligns powerfully with European far-right claims. Far-right groups successful Europe specified arsenic the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, Vox successful Spain, Front Populaire successful France and Lega Nord successful Italy, among others, person built their electoral campaigns connected anti-immigrant and xenophobic narratives.

On Friday past week, Carl Bildt, Sweden’s erstwhile premier minister, wrote successful a station connected X that “in saying that Europe faces ‘civilizational erasure’ the Trump caller information strategy places itself to the close of the utmost close successful Europe”.

In saying that Europe faces ”civilizational erasure” the Trump 🇺🇸 caller information strategy places itself to the close of the utmost close successful Europe. Its connection that 1 different lone finds coming retired of immoderate bizarre minds of the Kremlin 🇷🇺. pic.twitter.com/29vytDp6Hm

— Carl Bildt (@carlbildt) December 5, 2025

Gerard Araud, erstwhile French ambassador to the US, besides wrote connected X that “the stunning conception devoted to Europe reads similar a far-right pamphlet. It mostly confirms this perception.”

Les États Unis viennent de publier une Revue de Stratégie Nationale dont je conseille la lecture. L’ahurissante partie consacrée à l’Europe se lit comme un pamphlet d’extrême droite. Elle confirme largement cette perception. https://t.co/6Iig27QJZv

— Gérard Araud (@GerardAraud) December 5, 2025

Mark Sedgwick, a prof of Arab and Islamic Studies astatine Aarhus University successful Denmark, told US broadcaster NBC that the connection of the Trump administration’s nationalist information strategy besides fits with the connection utilized by supporters of the “great replacement” conspiracy theory.

That conspiracy mentation was archetypal introduced by French writer Renaud Camus successful his publication Le Grand Remplacement successful 2011, and claimed that “elites” successful France were trying to regenerate the White European colonisation by encouraging migration from Muslim-majority countries.

Since then, it has been utilized by far-right groups successful the West, including the US, to run against wide immigration.

Elsewhere, the Trump medication papers suggests that “Western Europe is nary longer a apical precedence for the US,” according to Gregoire Roos, manager of the Europe and Russia and Eurasia Programmes astatine Chatham House.

What this means is that the Trump medication present “looks [more] favourably connected cardinal and Eastern Europe, wherever determination are person governmental proximities”, Roos told Al Jazeera.

“While they don’t hold connected everything, countries specified arsenic Slovakia and Hungary stock views [with the US] connected EU bureaucracy, non-European migration arsenic a menace to identity, and greater caution erstwhile it comes to siding with Ukraine successful its warfare against Russia,” helium added.

Why is Trump aligning with Europe’s acold right?

Washington’s relations with European far-right leaders person surely improved since Trump returned to bureau successful January.

Late connected Thursday, done the NSS, the Trump medication called connected Washington to instrumentality a relation successful “cultivating resistance” wrong Europe and encouraged “its governmental allies successful Europe to beforehand this revival of spirit”.

“We privation Europe to stay European, to regain its civilisational self-confidence, and to wantonness its failed absorption connected regulatory suffocation,” the Trump medication added.

According to a December 5 study by The Associated Press quality agency, Markus Frohnmaier, a subordinate of Germany’s AfD, said Trump’s NSS is “a overseas argumentation world cheque for Europe and peculiarly for Germany”.

But Roberto Forin, acting manager of the Geneva-based Mixed Migration Centre (MMC), told Al Jazeera that the Trump administration’s NSS doctrine is an “unapologetic defence of whiteness”, and called it a “suprematist’s discourse”.

“The nonsubjective of the existent medication is to disagreement Europe, and polarise the continent by weaponising migration,” helium said.

“It is different illustration of however the caller US medication is starring the contention erstwhile it comes to not lone migration issues, but alternatively multiculturalism,” helium added.

On December 4, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul told reporters successful Berlin that Europe is capable to woody with its issues without overseas interference. He said that portion Washington remains an important information spouse successful Europe, the confederation is “focused connected addressing information argumentation issues” and not topics specified arsenic the continent’s state of code and expression.

“We spot ourselves arsenic being capable to sermon and statement these matters wholly connected our ain successful the future, and bash not request extracurricular advice,” helium said.

What other has Washington’s NSS said astir Europe?

Amid Russia’s ongoing warfare successful Ukraine, the NSS papers targeted European officials’ “unrealistic expectations” for ending the conflict, stating that the US has a “core interest” successful doing so.

According to the Reuters quality agency, Pentagon officials told diplomats successful Washington this week that the US was not yet satisfied with Europe’s defence spending amid Russia’s ongoing warfare successful Ukraine and said the US whitethorn halt participating successful NATO by 2027 if European countries bash not summation their investment.

The NSS stated that Washington would prioritise “enabling Europe to basal connected its ain feet and run arsenic a radical of aligned sovereign nations, including by taking superior work for its ain defence, without being dominated by immoderate adversarial power”.

European countries, including Germany, France and the UK, person announced they volition summation their defence spending and investments successful subject amid Russia’s warfare successful Ukraine. At the NATO Summit successful June, members of the confederation pledged to allocate up to 5 percent of their nationalist GDP to defence and related sectors by 2035.

But connected December 3, a US authoritative told Politico that US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau told a NATO overseas ministers’ gathering successful Brussels that the EU should absorption connected “turning its defence commitments into capabilities” and highlighted that “protectionist and exclusionary policies that bully American companies retired of the market” should beryllium avoided since it “undermines” NATO’s “collective defence”.

Will this bolster Europe’s acold right?

Ian Lesser, a chap and caput of The German Marshall Fund of the US (GMF)’s Brussels office, said successful a study that EU and NATO observers are apt to presumption the NSS arsenic “confirmation of established concerns astir the absorption and benignant of American policy”.

But helium warned that it besides “points to European taste and demographic diminution successful ways apt to reenforce the views of hard-right elements successful Europe”.

“Viewed from Brussels, the strategy underscores the world of an medication that is not isolationist but alternatively hyper unilateralist,” helium said.