That narrative is likely to resonate deeply among most of Europe’s far-right parties, whose electoral programs are primarily based on criticism of the EU, demands for curbs on migration from Muslim-majority and non-European nations, and a patriotic push to overturn their countries’ perceived declines.
The new security strategy offers a clear ideological alignment between U.S. President Donald Trump’s populist MAGA movement and Europe’s nationalist parties.
The U.S. administration — which has developed increasingly closer ties with far-right parties in countries such as Germany and Spain — appears to hint it could help ideologically allied European parties.
“America encourages its political allies in Europe to promote this revival of spirit, and the growing influence of patriotic European parties indeed gives cause for great optimism,” the strategy states.
The document is a rare formal explanation of Trump’s foreign policy worldview by his administration. Such strategies, which presidents typically release once each term, can help shape how parts of the U.S. government allocate budgets and set policy priorities. In an introductory note to the strategy, Trump called it a “roadmap to ensure that America remains the greatest and most successful nation in human history, and the home of freedom on earth.”
The Trump administration does concede that “Europe remains strategically and culturally vital to the United States,” but its views on the continent are aligned with the administration’s past negative public statements. Vice President JD Vance shocked the mainstream political class at the Munich Security Conference in February by attacking Europe over migration and free speech.