The Trump administration made plans to pull four friendly countries out of the European Union and into America’s orbit in an effort to “Make Europe Great Again”, according to a report.
The 29-page US National Security Strategy (NSS) sent shockwaves around Europe when it was unveiled last week, condemning Washington’s European allies as “weak” and offering support to far-right political parties.
According to Defense One, a longer and unpublished version of the document suggested taking Austria, Hungary, Italy and Poland out of the EU and into greater alignment with the US, while backing movements supportive of “traditional European ways of life”.
The four nations were cited as countries the US should “work with more … with the goal of pulling them away” from the EU, according to the US-based news channel, which claimed to have reviewed the document.
The White House strongly pushed back against the existence of an unabridged version of the report.
Defense One claims that it elaborated on how Donald Trump would like to build Washington’s relationship with ideologically aligned administrations, as the US focuses on domestic priorities.
“We should support parties, movements, and intellectual and cultural figures who seek sovereignty and preservation/restoration of traditional European ways of life … while remaining pro-American,” it said, according to Defense One.
The alleged document is likely to spark further alarm in Europe, just days after the NSS claimed countries such as France and Germany were “decaying” due to migration and stifled economic growth.
White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly refuted the existence of the report, telling Defense One: “No alternative, private, or classified version exists.
“President Trump is transparent and put his signature on one NSS that clearly instructs the U.S. government to execute on his defined principles and priorities.”
The published version of the document also accused Europe of failing to stop the war in Ukraine, claiming that European leaders had let the conflict “keep going on and on”.
It said “the Trump Administration finds itself at odds with European officials who hold unrealistic expectations for the war perched in unstable minority governments, many of which trample on basic principles of democracy to suppress opposition”.
The report also claimed that Europe faces “civilisational erasure” – a narrative that aligns with far-right parties. Last week, a former US diplomat told The Independent that the document is “disastrously dumb.”
As Europe is forced to spend more to replenish depleted defence industries, Nato’s secretary general warned on Thursday that the continent should prepare for a war “like our grandparents endured” and boost defence spending to deter Russia.
