Former President Donald Trump is planning to tap into “anti-war” sentiments over the Ukraine-Russia conflict in a bid to stand out in a potentially crowded field of Republican contenders heading into 2024, Politico reported, citing anonymous individuals closely tied to his campaign.
Trump has criticized the Biden administration’s handling of Ukraine, and said he would have ended the conflict in “24 hours,” according to Politico. The former president’s pivot to foreign affairs is in direct response to a growing field of potential Republican challengers, including former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
“Trump is the peace president and he’s the first president in two generations to not start a war, whereas if you look at DeSantis’ congressional record, he’s voted for more engagement and more military engagement overseas,” an anonymous individual close to Trump told Politico.
The former president hopes his “America First” agenda will stand out among the other likely political opponents, who have signaled support for supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia, according to Politico.
Shortly after Russia’s invasion, Haley said “this isn’t just a war for Ukraine, its a war for freedom.” In October, Pompeo said the U.S. must supply Ukraine with the necessary resources.
Proud to endorse @realDonaldTrump for President in 2024.
— J.D. Vance (@JDVance1) February 2, 2023
While others want to foolishly march us into WW3 over Russia and Ukraine, Trump is the only candidate running with the courage to stand up to the corrupt bipartisan foreign policy establishment.https://t.co/RKHzg4B2AP
“I do think national security is going to be a much more important issue in 2024 than in many of the most recent presidential elections,” John Bolton, former national security adviser to the Trump Administration, told Politico, in lieu of the recent Chinese balloon national security breach.
After several days of the balloon traveling through American air space, it was shot down over the Carolinas.
Trump also called out his former secretary of State, claiming Pompeo took too much credit for the Trump administration’s foreign accomplishments, according to Politico.
Republican Sen. J.D. Vance from Ohio praised Trump’s policy plans, “I’m supporting him for president in 2024 because he’s the only person certain to do it,” he wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed.
Haley’s former UN ambassador experience will likely come in handy in this political match up, those close to Haley told Politico, Mary Lou Masters at CDN reports
In the meantime, an influential young US congressman calls for end to funding of Kiev’s army
Representative Matt Gaetz says the weapon shipments will only “prolong the killing”
The US must stop sending billions of dollars to bolster Ukraine’s military, Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz said during a speech in the House of Representatives on Monday. He slammed President Joe Biden and both parties, saying the conflict in Ukraine is only benefiting military contractors.
“Tomorrow [at the State of the Union address] President Biden will tell us how much more we must do for Ukraine,” Gaetz said, adding that the ongoing hostilities are only lining the pockets of America’s military industry.
“Defense contractors need there to be a war going on somewhere. Whether the arms end up in the hands of ISIS, the Taliban, the Azov Battalion, or on the black market,” according to Gaetz. Washington’s support of Ukraine with endless weapons will not end the war but just “prolong the killing,” he said.
A serious nation would never let foreign interests abroad or special interests at home dictate its foreign policy.
“Bandits in the Sinaloa mountains hurt more Americans than the [Russian] men in Crimea,” Gaetz said, adding that the benefits of the conflict to normal Americans are “unclear.”
He lamented that “foreigners” have come to Washington “to lecture us about spending our constituents’ money on a conflict thousands of miles away” – a reference to Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s visit to the US Capitol in December.
He accused Biden of doing “everything possible” to provoke a nuclear war with Russia and called on the White House to pursue a solution through diplomacy.
Biden promised 31 US-made M1 Abrams tanks for Ukraine in late January, but said that Washington would not send F-16 fighter jets. Gaetz noted that Lockheed Martin, the manufacturer of the warplane, was ramping up production in anticipation that there could soon be “third party transfers” of the jets to Kiev.
Asked about the tank deliveries, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in January that they will “burn” like every other weapon in the conflict zone, RR reports.