How Trump’s radical shift in U.S. foreign policy is troubling Europe (and what it says about his intentions in Latin America)

In this section, the strategy broadly states that the states of Europe are facing what it calls “civilizational annihilation.”

European leaders were, at least privately, “appalled” by the document, our Foreign Ministry correspondent said on the podcast.

“They are not surprised that this is the ideological position of some parts of the government, but it is quite worrying for them that it is expressed in a formal policy document,” he said.

The reaction in Europe from both sides of the political spectrum was not long in coming.

The left-wing French newspaper Le Monde classified the separation as a “divorce” and noted that it represents a historical break with the period following the end of World War II

“The divorce is finalized, pending the division of assets,” the newspaper writes in its article.

The comment from the conservative newspaper is even more telling for the French press, says correspondent Tom Bateman The Figaro about the apparent contradiction between what the document says about what it calls, on the one hand, the “right to non-interventionism” and, on the other hand, about explicit interventionism in the case of European countries.

The strategy literally indicates the US intention to encourage resistance from opposition parties in European countries. This implies support for far-right parties such as the AfD in Germany, the Reform Party in the United Kingdom and Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement Nationale in France.

It is an explicit support for political movements in Europe that promote economic nationalism and strong opposition to migration, which the document describes as “patriotic parties”.

The strategy towards Europe would be a repeat of the Trump administration’s behavior towards Latin America, says the BBC correspondent.

In Argentina, for example, he mentions the economic rescue that Trump agreed to to the government of Javier Milei, days before his party faced parliamentary elections that would determine the future of his political project.

“This was interpreted by (Milei’s) opponents as blatant interference by the United States,” Tom Bateman said.

That support was reiterated before the recent elections in Honduras, when Trump pardoned former President Juan Orlando Hernández, who was serving a 45-year prison sentence in the United States for drug trafficking, while expressing support for right-wing candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura.

The same was seen in Brazil, where Trump attacked that country’s courts that convicted “Trumpist” former President Jair Bolsonaro for his attempted coup after losing the 2022 elections.

The new strategy highlights the Americas, referred to as the “Western Hemisphere,” as a focus of U.S. foreign policy.

The government wants to “ensure that the region remains stable and sufficiently well-governed to prevent and discourage mass migration to the United States,” the document said.

The strategy introduces the idea of ​​a “Trump sequel” to the Monroe Doctrine and positions the administration’s tactics as a continuation of President James Monroe’s 19th-century policy of asserting U.S. supremacy in the Americas and fending off interference from European colonial powers.

The government believes this renewed attention is necessary to counter China’s influence in Latin America, our correspondent notes, even though China is not directly mentioned in the document.

According to Trump, China has managed to gain too much of an economic foothold in the region, although his claim that it “operates” the Panama Canal is not literally true.

Recent diplomatic efforts, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s visit to Latin American countries earlier this year, are a sign of Washington’s intent to reassert its economic and strategic dominance in the region.

Although the strategy does not extend to the military dimension of this policy, the air strikes against suspected drug traffickers in the Caribbean and the presence of several battleships and US military personnel off the coast of Venezuela underscore the threat of the use of military force.

The deterioration in relations between the USA and Europe has been evident for months.

One of the first signs of the Trump administration’s stance toward Europe came in January, when U.S. Vice President JD Vance sharply attacked European democracies at the Munich Security Conference, chastising their leaders for ignoring voters’ concerns about migration and free speech.

But in practice, this awkward relationship has developed in a different scenario; the war in Ukraine.

The document appears to suggest that Europe has not understood power dynamics and that the United States must invest diplomatic energy to stabilize the region.

The European Union is accused of obstructing Washington’s efforts to end the war in Urania, the document says, and the U.S. must “restore strategic stability vis-à-vis Russia,” which in turn would “stabilize European economies.”

The central message is that Ukraine should remain a viable state, but for this to happen Russia’s dominant position must be recognized.

Donald Trump is “losing patience” with Europe and Ukraine, our correspondent notes.

“It’s clear… the pressure is on the Europeans to give in to a position that the Ukrainians essentially interpret as surrender,” he commented on the podcast.

Tensions over Ukraine have already manifested themselves in high-profile moments, including Trump and Vance’s Oval Office meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky in February, during which they called the Ukrainian president “disrespectful” and “ungrateful.”

European leaders now face the reality that the US could push for a much more favorable outcome for Moscow than for Kiev.

Russia welcomed the National Security Strategy, describing it as “broadly consistent” with its vision.

The new National Security Strategy has already changed debates in Washington and across Europe.

Its implications for Ukraine, U.S.-Europe relations, and the broader global order continue to unfold.

But the document makes one thing abundantly clear: the Trump administration intends to redefine U.S. foreign policy priorities and expects its allies to adapt to this new reality.

*With additional information from BBC World Service’s The Global Story podcast

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