As early as 2023, long before Donald Trump's election, analysts warned that his rise to power under the America First slogan threatened a global shift with far-reaching consequences. Yet the realization of truly catastrophic outcomes always comes with a delay. Even though in February 2025 the United States officially signaled the dismantling of Europe’s global security architecture, some hopes still lingered.
However, the publication of the updated U.S. National Security Strategy leaves no room for illusions: the United States is no longer an ally of Ukraine or Europe. This must be treated as a baseline reality.
Read more: A Parade of Power: Trump’s Birthday, Putin’s Shadow Amidst US Army at 250
This is no longer rhetoric, a campaign program, or individual statements. It is a core policy document that shapes Washington's entire foreign policy. Among its key points is the formal consolidation of isolationism in the Western Hemisphere under an expanded Monroe Doctrine.
It also cements a strategic focus on the Indo-Pacific, with a redistribution of defense resources to that region, which is described as the center of global economic development. At the same time, it explicitly signals a withdrawal from Europe, which is directly described as stagnating, and from the Middle East, which is no longer a priority due to the elimination of U.S. dependence on its energy resources.
Yet the new U.S. National Security Strategy goes even further, representing a much broader paradigmatic shift. The document explicitly abandons the concept of the so-called "export of democracy." It states outright that if certain countries "choose" to live under dictatorship or totalitarianism, this should be viewed merely as "traditions and historical forms of governance" and should not be an obstacle to trade or investment.
For Ukraine, the most critical elements are those contained in the section devoted to Europe, which now ranks only third in priority, after the Western Hemisphere and confrontation with China. The strategy argues that Europe's importance has declined because its share of global GDP has fallen from 25% in 1990 to just 14% today. The root cause of this decline is explicitly attributed to the policies of the European Union.
"Broader challenges facing Europe include the actions of the European Union and other transnational organizations that undermine political freedom and sovereignty; migration policies that transform the continent and fuel division; censorship of free speech and suppression of political opposition; a sharp decline in birth rates; and a loss of confidence in itself."
Accordingly, the U.S. National Security Strategy, which explicitly prioritizes American interests, states that Europe must "abandon the failed idea of suffocating regulation."
At the same time, the document's own logic is internally contradictory. In one passage, such policies are described as weakening an ally. In another, it suggests that EU policies could lead some countries to stop viewing their alliance with the United States as they did during the Cold War, because they would become "non-European."
More importantly, russia — the aggressor state that launched the largest war in Europe since World War II — is not singled out in the U.S. National Security Strategy as a direct threat to the United States. Nor is there any mention of russia's totalitarian regime. Instead, the document states that relations between Europe and russia are currently "strained" and that many Europeans view russia as an existential threat. Therefore:
"Managing Europe's relationship with russia will require significant U.S. diplomatic engagement, both to restore conditions of strategic stability on the Eurasian continent and to reduce the risk of conflict between russia and European states."
To achieve this, the strategy calls for ending hostilities in Ukraine as soon as possible "in order to stabilize European economies, prevent inadvertent escalation or expansion of the war, and restore strategic stability in relations with russia."
As for Ukraine's future, the document speaks of "ensuring the possibility of Ukraine's postwar recovery to enable its survival as a viable state." It makes no mention of territorial integrity and contains no reference to russia's responsibility for launching the war, destroying cities, carrying out mass executions, or committing other war crimes and crimes against humanity. Equally important is the following passage:
"The Trump Administration is at odds with European officials who place unrealistic hopes on war while serving in unstable minority governments, many of which disregard fundamental democratic principles to suppress opposition. A significant European majority desires peace, but this desire is not translated into policy, largely due to the undermining of democratic processes by these governments."
Moreover, the war in Ukraine is portrayed as having increased Europe's dependence on China. The document even offers a concrete example:
"Today, German chemical companies are building one of the world's largest processing plants in China, using russian gas that they can no longer obtain at home."
Overall, Washington now appears to believe that current European governments themselves are to blame for refusing to view russia as a partner. The European Union as such is portrayed negatively, allegedly lacking democracy, despite the same document asserting elsewhere that non-democratic governance is merely a "historical tradition."
For these reasons, any remaining illusions about the sincerity of the U.S. alliance with Europe and Ukraine are, objectively, deeply dangerous.
Below, we also provide the original text of the U.S. National Security Strategy:
Read more: Trump's Tariffs Undermine U.S. Own Defense Industry, F-35 and Other Projects at Risk — Politico
