President Donald Trump issued his sharpest warning yet to Europe in a new National Security Strategy quietly released early Friday — and the message could not be clearer: change course or collapse.
The strategy marks a dramatic reset of U.S. policy toward the continent, urging European governments to reclaim national sovereignty, revive free debate, secure their borders, and break their dependence on Brussels’ sprawling bureaucratic machine.
According to the document, Europe has become an over-regulated, increasingly speech-restricted bloc suffering from a “loss of self-confidence” and sliding toward “civilizational erasure” after years of uncontrolled migration and political conformity enforced by EU elites.
Far from an “attack on Europe,” the administration says the strategy is a long-overdue correction — one aimed squarely at policies and institutions that Washington believes are undermining liberty, dissolving cultural cohesion, and weakening the Western alliance itself.
The document bluntly accuses Europe of leaning on American protection while refusing to take responsibility for its own defense, borders, or long-term direction. It argues that EU institutions actively undermine political liberty and national sovereignty, enforcing speech restrictions and sweeping regulations that suffocate democratic discourse.
The strategy points to collapsing birth rates and fading national identities as evidence that Europe is nearing a demographic and cultural breaking point.
“Should present trends continue, the continent will be unrecognizable in 20 years or less,” the document warns.
It further argues that a broad European majority wants peace and stability — yet those desires are “not translated into policy” because governments routinely subvert democratic processes to maintain their grip on power.
European officials reacted with predictable outrage. German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul declared that Berlin doesn’t need “outside advice.” France’s Valérie Hayer, who leads the Renew Europe group in the EU Parliament, blasted the strategy as “unacceptable and dangerous.”
Others noted the unprecedented nature of Washington’s critique. Evan Feigenbaum, a former adviser to two U.S. secretaries of state, wrote that the Europe section is “far more striking” than the portions addressing China, adding that the document portrays the U.S. as directly opposing the entire European project.
Tensions between Washington and major EU powers have been simmering for months. Vice President JD Vance sent shockwaves through European political elites with a Munich Security Conference speech warning of shrinking free expression and aligning himself with voter movements like Germany’s AfD that challenge entrenched establishment parties.
Analysts say the new strategy reinforces that message by placing the nation-state — not supranational bureaucracies — at the center of legitimate political authority.
Kristine Berzina of the German Marshall Fund noted that the administration is signaling it wants “an entirely different Europe,” while questioning the legitimacy of some governments amounts to “significant political attacks” on long-standing allies.
The strategy also targets what it calls Europe’s accelerating crackdown on dissent, specifically citing censorship, bans on political speech, and government moves to suppress the rise of right-leaning parties.
For months, U.S. officials have openly accused Germany, France, and the U.K. of allowing civil liberties to deteriorate. The new strategy formalizes that critique — and signals that Washington no longer intends to remain silent as Europe drifts further into ideological conformity and borderless governance.
