Donald Trump has issued a stark warning to European countries, claiming they face a risk of ‘civilisational erasure’ and may become unrecognizable within the next two decades.

The former US president sharply criticized long-standing allies while presenting his much-anticipated national security strategy, which represents a significant shift in US priorities, aligning with his ‘America First’ ideology.

In a striking choice of words, the strategy emphasizes that the US is actively ‘cultivating resistance’ within Europe with the aim of reviving the ‘Western identity.’

The document also supports the hard-right narrative suggesting that Europe is on the brink of ‘civilisational erasure’ due to migration.

The strategy notes, ‘It is entirely possible that within a few decades, some NATO members will predominantly consist of non-European populations.’

The administration also denounces European ‘censorship of free speech and suppression of political opposition,’ an allusion to efforts to constrain hard-right voices including those who have railed against migrants.

The paper also vows that there would be no expansion of NATO, the transatlantic alliance in which the United States is the key power, again dashing Ukraine’s hopes as it endures a Russian invasion.

In extraordinary language in speaking of close allies, the strategy said the US is ‘cultivating resistance to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations’ and wanted to restore ‘Western identity’.

It also accused European governments of hindering the peace process to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine: ‘A large European majority wants peace, yet that desire is not translated into policy, in large measure because of those governments’ subversion of democratic processes’. 

The strategy pointed to Europe’s lower share of the global economy – the result largely of the rise of China and other emerging powers – and said: ‘This economic decline is eclipsed by the real and more stark prospect of civilisation erasure.

Donald Trump (pictured) has warned that Europe faces ‘civilisation erasure’

‘Should present trends continue, the continent will be unrecognisable in 20 years or less.’

It added: ‘We want Europe to remain European, to regain its civilisational self-confidence, and to abandon its failed focus on regulatory suffocation’. 

The US also it would ‘oppose elite-driven, anti-democratic restrictions on core liberties in Europe, the Anglosphere, and the rest of the democratic world, especially among our allies.’

The strategy made clear that the United States under Trump would aggressively pursue  objectives in Europe in line with hard-right parties that have made strong gains in much of the continent.

As Trump seeks an end to the Ukraine war that would likely favour Russia gaining territory, the strategy accused Europeans of weakness and said the United States should focus on ‘ending the perception, and preventing the reality, of NATO as a perpetually expanding alliance.’

Britain was mentioned just once in the US’ strategy paper, with the administration writing: ‘America is, understandably, sentimentally attached to the European continent— and, of course, to Britain and Ireland’. 

Germany quickly hit back at the US administration’s comments, saying that it does not need ‘outside advice.’ 

Asked about the strategy, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul stressed that the ‘United States is and will remain our most important ally in the (NATO) alliance. This alliance, however, is focused on addressing security policy issues.’ 

Wadephul added: ‘We see ourselves as being able to discuss and debate these matters entirely on our own in the future, and do not need outside advice.’ 

Breaking with decades of attempts to be the sole superpower, the strategy said that the ‘United States rejects the ill-fated concept of global domination for itself.’

It said that the United States would also prevent other powers from dominating but added: ‘This does not mean wasting blood and treasure to curtail the influence of all the world’s great and middle powers.’

A Russian self-propelled 122 mm multiple rocket launcher BM-30 ‘Grad’ being fired towards Ukrainian army positions at an undisclosed location in Ukraine

The strategy called for a ‘readjustment of our global military presence to address urgent threats in our Hemisphere, and away from theatres whose relative import to American national security has declined in recent decades or years.’

The strategy speaks in bold terms of pressing US dominance in Latin America, where the Trump administration has been striking alleged drug traffickers at sea, intervening to bring down leftist leaders including in Venezuela, and loudly seeking to take charge of key resources such as the Panama Canal.

The strategy cast Trump as modernising the two-century-old Monroe Doctrine, in which the then young United States declared Latin America off-limits to rival powers, then from Europe.

‘We will assert and enforce a “Trump Corollary” to the Monroe Doctrine,’ it said.

Trump has sharply reversed many longstanding US principles since returning to office in January.

He rose to political prominence demanding sweeping curbs on immigration to the United States, fanning fears that the white majority was losing its status, and since taking office has ordered drastic and high-profile raids to deport undocumented people.

‘The era of mass migration must end. Border security is the primary element of national security,’ the strategy said.

The strategy paid comparatively little attention to the Middle East, which has long consumed Washington.

Firefighters work to extinguish the blaze after a Russian strike hit the building in Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, injuring one woman, on December 1, 2025

Pointing to US efforts to increase energy supply at home and not in the oil-rich Gulf, the strategy said: ‘America’s historic reason for focusing on the Middle East will recede.’

The paper said it was a US priority for Israel to be secure, but stopped short of the fulsome language on Israel used even in the first Trump administration.

On China, the strategy repeated calls for a ‘free and open’ Asia-Pacific region but focused more on the nation as an economic competitor.

After much speculation on whether Trump would budge on Taiwan, the self-ruling democracy claimed by Beijing, the strategy made clear that the United States supports the decades-old status quo, but called on allies Japan and South Korea to contribute more to ensure Taiwan’s defence from China.

The strategy predictably puts little focus on Africa, saying the United States should transition away from ‘liberal ideology’ and an ‘aid-focused relationship’ and emphasise goals such as securing critical minerals.