Unprecedented is a word that is often overused. But if used to describe the new world of politics we are now in, I think it’s fairly justified.

And that is all thanks to one man.

Trump’s return to the White House has ushered in a new way of conducting politics – personality-driven, transactional and fundamentally opposed to the institutional, rules-based order we have known since the Second World War.

His administration’s recently released National Security Strategy put this in stark terms. Released ironically on the same day the President received his made-to-order FIFA ‘peace prize’, the strategy promotes an aggressive form of foreign policy interference with the aim of “promoting European greatness”.

Even though it’s really none of their business, they leave little doubt as to what they think this greatness looks like.

The whole section on Europe is soaked in far-right ideology and propaganda. EU migration policies have, in the eyes of Trump’s government, transformed the continent and created strife. Without immediate action, they warn countries face “civilisational erasure”.

I wouldn’t bet serious money that the President actually read the whole of this document, but it is telling that days after its release he lambasted receiving migrants from “****hole countries” during a speech in Pensylvania. If anyone in the baying crowd doubted what he meant, Trump added: “Why can’t we have some people from Norway, Sweden?”

How this administration intends to help Europe “regain its civilisational self-confidence” is chilling. The strategy talks of “cultivating resistance to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations”. Not surprisingly, Alternative für Deutschland, Germany’s far-right party, hailed the document, as did Russia, with the Kremlin saying it aligned with their vision for the world.

This strategy follows neatly on from Vice President JD Vance’s February speech at the 2025 Munich Security Conference, where he attacked Europe’s democratic model. In the months between then and now European leaders, including our own Prime Minister, have contorted themselves to keep the President happy.

But given the publication of this strategy, and the President’s rhetoric on Ukraine, this approach needs to end. Soon.

Now that the Trump administration’s opinion of Europe has been laid out in black and white, the continent’s leaders must find a new direction.

The Liberal Democrats are clear that our approach should be rooted in closer cooperation with our European allies and protecting our democracy. To that end, we recently introduced a bill which would pave the way for the UK to start negotiations with the EU on a new customs union.

There is, of course, an economic benefit to pursuing such a union, but one shouldn’t overlook the security aspect too. Britain, standing outside the EU, looks particularly vulnerable to a US administration intent on spreading a Trumpian vision across the Atlantic.

The Government must understand that our protection and security hinges on a better relationship with Europe, as well as tightening our election rules, not least around donations to political parties. It would be nice to think 2026 will be the year they realise this.