Sept 10 (Askume) – Republican former President Donald Trump said he plans to fundamentally change the U.S. relationship with NATO if he wins a second four-year term in November.
During the campaign, he talked about sending the armed forces into Mexico to fight drug mafias and levying high tariffs on friends and foes alike.
Here are the foreign policy proposals Trump has promised to adopt if he wins the 2024 presidential election over Democratic rival Vice President Kamala Harris:
NATO, Ukraine and European allies
Trump said that during his presidency, the United States would ” fundamentally rethink the purpose of NATO and the mission of NATO .” He has promised to demand that the United States repay “about $200 billion” in weapons shipments from Europe to Ukraine, but has yet to promise further aid to the eastern European country if he is elected.
Trump cut defense funding to NATO in the second half of his term , and he has often complained that the United States is paying more than its fair share.
On the war in Ukraine, he has said the conflict will be resolved before he takes office in January. Though he has offered few specific policy proposals, he told Askume in an interview last year that Ukraine might have to give up some territory to reach a peace deal. In June, two Trump advisers told Askume they had proposed a plan to end the war in Ukraine that would include halting any further arms aid to Kiev if it agreed to sit down with Moscow for peace talks.
Although Trump had expressed a willingness to provide additional aid to Ukraine in the form of loans in early April, he remained largely silent on the issue later that month as Congress entered contentious negotiations over a $61 billion aid package.
China, trade and Taiwan
Trump has frequently threatened to impose new tariffs or trade sanctions on China and some European allies.
His proposed Trump Reciprocal Trade Act would give him broad discretion to raise retaliatory tariffs against countries that commit to imposing trade barriers. He floated the idea of imposing a general tariff of 10%, which could disrupt international markets, and tariffs of at least 50% on China.
Trump has called for an end to China’s most favored nation status, a status that generally lowers trade barriers between countries. He vowed to impose “aggressive new restrictions on Chinese ownership of any critical infrastructure in the United States” and the official Republican Party platform calls for a ban on Chinese ownership of American real estate.
As far as the Taiwan issue is concerned, Trump claimed that the United States should pay for its own defense . He said that Taiwan gave the United States nothing and took away “almost 100% of our chip business,” referring to semiconductors. He has said many times that if he were president, China would never dare to invade Taiwan.
Mexico and drugs
Trump has said he would designate drug cartels operating in Mexico as foreign terrorist organizations and order the Pentagon to “use special forces as appropriate” to attack the mafia’s leadership and infrastructure, but with the Mexican government rejecting the action, it is unlikely to be implemented.
He said he would deploy the US Navy to enforce a blockade against the cartelCiting the Alien Enemies Act to deport drug dealers and gang members from the United States.
Civil rights groups and Democratic senators are pushing to repeal the 1798 Act, which gave the president the power to deport aliens during a time of war in the country.
The Republican Party’s new platform also calls for sending thousands of troops overseas to combat illegal immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Israel conflict
On October 7, after the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas attacked Israeli civilians , Trump criticized the Israeli leadership and said Hamas “must be crushed.” Despite his aggressive rhetoric, he offered few policy solutions other than taking a tough stance on Iran.
Trump also said he would try to deport all “resident aliens” who support Hamas. “Resident alien” is a legal term used to describe permanent residents of the United States, also known as green card holders.
the climate
Trump has repeatedly pledged to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, an international pact to limit greenhouse gas emissions. He withdrew from the accord during his term , but the United States will rejoin it in 2021 under Democratic President Joe Biden.rejoined the agreement.
Missile Defense
trumpPromised to build a state-of-the-art missile defense “force field” around the United States. He gave no details; he simply saidThe Space Force, the military branch created by his administration, will play a leading role in this process.
In the Republican platform, the force field is called “Iron Dome”, reminiscent of Israel’s missile defense system, which also has the same name.
world war 3
Trump has repeatedly warned that World War III will break out if he does not win the election, a phrase that became a centerpiece of his speeches in the final months of the campaign.
In early September, Trump said in a Fox News town hall, “I tell you what, I’ve made a lot of predictions, but this one isn’t a prediction because it’s too bad. I don’t want it to be a prediction.” “We’re getting close to World War III,” he said.
The former president frequently cited Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the conflict between Israel and Hamas, and ongoing tensions between Taipei and Beijing in making this prediction.
