Why the US says Europe is facing ‘civilisational erasure’

Europe is facing the prospect of ‘civilizational erasure’. That’s the official view of the Trump administration, as put in a radical policy document that was released late last week.

The US government’s new National Security Strategy paints the most complete picture yet of who the administration sees as its allies and its adversaries, and it’s left Europe’s leaders reeling.

Today, we speak to the BBC's State Department correspondent, Tom Bateman, about how Trump has turned traditional US foreign policy on its head.

Producers: Viv Jones, Lucy Pawle and Hannah Moore

Executive producer: James Shield

Mix: Travis Evans

Senior news editor: China Collins

Photo: U.S. President Donald Trump boards Air Force One, December 9, 2025. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst