The construction of an Israel-style Iron Dome missile shield over America. A new and seemingly less-regulated approach to artificial intelligence. Pushing allies to spend even more on their defense. And a trade-centric approach to U.S.-China competition that aims to undercut the global economic advantages Beijing has spent decades building.
Those are a few of the foreign policy and national security planks in the Republicans’ official 2024 platform, which is light on many specifics but heavy on the broad “America First” principles that have come to define Donald Trump’s party.
The platform seeks to build a bridge from Reagan-era conservatism to today’s Republican Party. Under Mr. Trump’s leadership, the party embraces a deep-rooted skepticism of foreign military operations and seeks to avoid dispatching U.S. troops abroad unless absolutely necessary.
The platform links the two iterations of Republicanism by invoking Reagan’s “peace through strength” mantra to argue that less foreign intervention is the best recipe for American success. At the same time, it vows to “build a military bigger, better and stronger than ever before.”
“War breeds inflation while geopolitical stability brings price stability. Republicans will end the global chaos and restore peace through strength, reducing geopolitical risks and lowering commodity prices,” reads a section of the document.
Perhaps most conspicuous by its absence is any direct mention of the Russia-Ukraine war, the most significant conflict raging on the planet. It is also the most dangerous, given Russia’s massive nuclear stockpile and its threats to employ those weapons against the U.S. and its allies.
Mr. Trump has made clear that he intends to end the conflict quickly if elected, though he has rejected terms put forward by Russian President Vladimir Putin that would permanently put some Ukrainian territory under Russian control.
“People being killed so needlessly, so stupidly, and I will get it settled and I’ll get it settled fast, before I take office,” Mr. Trump said in his recent debate with President Biden.
Mr. Trump’s choice of Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio as his vice presidential pick offers more clues as to what a Republican administration would do in its first months. In an April op-ed in The New York Times, Mr. Vance made clear that he believes it’s foolish to continue framing the Russia-Ukraine war through the lens of American aid — or Republican opposition to such aid.
“Ukraine’s challenge is not the G.O.P.; it’s math,” Mr. Vance wrote. “Ukraine needs more soldiers than it can field, even with draconian conscription policies. And it needs more material than the United States can provide. This reality must inform any future Ukraine policy, from further congressional aid to the diplomatic course set by the president.”
Mr. Vance’s positions on Ukraine have stirred unease in Kyiv.
“Setting aside his views on other topics, the senator from Ohio has built his entire foreign policy reputation on bashing the country resisting Russian invasion,” analysts Tim Mak and Oleh Tymoshenko wrote in an op-ed that ran in The Kyiv Independent this week. “He opposes military and financial aid to Ukraine, Ukraine’s NATO membership, and believes the U.S. should negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin and that Ukraine should cede territory to Russia.”
They added, “The selection of Vance — one heartbeat away from the presidency, as the deputy to a man who has just survived a shooting — is a catastrophe for those who support the Ukrainians resisting Russian violence.”
On another point, the Republican Party platform insists that “our allies must meet their obligations” on defense, a nod to Mr. Trump’s constant refrain that NATO countries must spend more on defense. Still, Mr. Trump would be entering a much different world on that front.
This year, 23 NATO members are expected to spend at least 2% of their gross domestic product on defense, a threshold embraced by the U.S. for more than a decade. In 2014, only three countries hit that mark.
Ending and deterring conflicts while taking unprecedented measures to protect the American homeland is a central theme of the platform. One of its core points, written in a Trump-style all-caps format, states that Republicans will: “PREVENT WORLD WAR THREE, RESTORE PEACE IN EUROPE AND IN THE MIDDLE EAST, AND BUILD A GREAT IRON DOME MISSILE DEFENSE SHIELD OVER OUR ENTIRE COUNTRY.”
Mr. Trump has often said he will seek to build an Iron Dome-style missile defense system if he is reelected. That system has been crucial to Israel’s defense against Hamas and other terrorist groups, and it proved vital in repelling Iran’s drone-and-missile assault on Israel earlier this year.
On one of the greatest technological issues of the day, the party says it will embrace innovation in the artificial intelligence sector.
“We will repeal Joe Biden’s dangerous executive order that hinders AI Innovation, and imposes radical left-wing ideas on the development of this technology,” the platform says. “In its place, Republicans support AI development rooted in free speech and human flourishing.”
If Mr. Trump and Mr. Vance win, that approach will almost surely collide with growing fears in some circles about the potential dangers of AI and a push among many policymakers for more government regulation.
The Republican platform portrays the communist government in Beijing as a central U.S. threat. Countering China is a core piece of the approach, though it is short on military details.
The platform does say Republicans will revoke China’s “most favored nation status” on international trade, hinting that they will seek to reverse the economic advantages China has gained in recent decades with its authoritarian governing approach and its cheap goods and labor. The platform says Republicans will “stop China from buying American real estate and industries” as a way to limit its economic foothold in the U.S.
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