Trump Administration Warns About Europe Becoming Less White

President Donald Trump’s administration released a document in the wee hours of Friday morning bemoaning “civilizational erasure” in Europe, and much of it could be read as a dog whistle to white nationalists.

The document, a national security plan about maintaining American dominance in the Western world, raises concerns that European nations aren’t strong allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and blames a diversifying Europe.

It’s plausible, the document argues without evidence, that “within a few decades at the latest, certain NATO members will become majority non-European,” adding again without any citation, “Should present trends continue, the continent will be unrecognizable in 20 years or less.”

It’s fair to question “whether they will view their place in the world, or their alliance with the United States, in the same way as those who signed the NATO charter,” Trump’s administration warned.

The document was full of more dire warnings about Europe’s “loss of national identities,” and the need for American diplomacy to uphold European countries’ “individual character and history.”

It also warns about “migration policies that are transforming the continent and creating strife” ― an apparent reference to the rise in immigration to Europe.

The document celebrates the rise of “the growing influence of patriotic European parties,” saying they’re “cause for great optimism.”

The comment comes amid the rise of the far-right group Patriots for Europe, which Orbán formed last year ahead of the European Parliament elections. Its members include right-wing parties from around Europe with aggressive anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim rhetoric.

Outside that coalition is Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany party, a group with similar tenets that has seen a recent surge in support.

One geopolitical think tank expressed alarm at the new document.

“The most worrying parts of the strategy are the ones that chastise Europe for losing its European character,” Emily Harding, a director at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, wrote in her assessment. “The sentiment behind the words seems to stoke fear of migrants and an adherence to an idealized, old-world Europe that is questionable at best. Modern Europe is vibrant, evolving, and — largely — pretty happy.”

This rhetoric is extreme, even for the Trump administration, she continued.

“This should give even President Trump’s most fervent supporters pause,” Harding wrote. “Not only does it misread Europe’s current state, but it leans hard into far-right wing political parties’ talking points.”