Trump warns Europe faces ‘civilizational erasure’ in explosive new document

 

Trump warns Europe faces ‘civilizational erasure’ in explosive new document

 

The U.S. president blames the EU and migration for inciting broad continental decline in official National Security Strategy.

 

December 5, 2025 11:02 am CET

By Laura Kayali

https://www.politico.eu/article/donald-trump-warns-europe-faces-civilizational-erasure/

 

U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration blame the EU and migration for what they say is imminent, total cultural unraveling in Europe.

 

The explosive claim is made in the U.S. National Security Strategy, which notes Europe has economic problems, but says they are "eclipsed by the real and more stark prospect of civilizational erasure" within the next 20 years.

 

"The larger issues facing Europe include activities of the European Union and other transnational bodies that undermine political liberty and sovereignty, migration policies that are transforming the continent and creating strife, censorship of free speech and suppression of political opposition, cratering birthrates, and loss of national identities and self-confidence," the Trump administration says in the 33-page document released overnight.

 

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.

 

The document also echoes the racist “great replacement” conspiracy theory, which asserts that elites are plotting to diminish the voting power of white Europeans by opening their countries' doors to immigration from the African continent, specifically Muslim countries. "Over the long term, it is more than plausible that within a few decades at the latest, certain NATO members will become majority non-European," the document states.

 

European Commission Chief Spokesperson Paula Pinho told reporters she was aware of the "publication of this report" but had not had "the time to look into it," adding the EU's executive would "definitely" make its position known in due course.

 

The war in Ukraine is mentioned, in a brief departure from discussing Europe's "civilizational erasure." The U.S. stresses that it's in America’s interest for the Kremlin’s war to stop, including in order to restore "strategic stability" with Russia.

 

However, the U.S. administration claims that “unstable minority governments” in Europe have "unrealistic expectations for the war," while also hinting they are hindering the peace process. The comments come as European leaders privately warn that Washington could "betray" Ukraine during peace negotiations with Moscow.

 

In contradiction to NATO's open-door policy for candidate countries, the U.S. administration also wants to prioritize "ending the perception, and preventing the reality, of NATO as a perpetually expanding alliance." While it's no secret that Trump doesn't want Ukraine to join NATO, that was also Washington's position under his predecessor Joe Biden.

 

Seb Starcevic contributed to this report. 

 

This article has been updated.