While former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris disagree on a number of key issues, their attitudes toward the conflict in Ukraine are among the sharpest divergences between the two.
Harris has sought to position herself as a successor to the Biden administration’s policies, suggesting a continuation of its sanctions against Russia as well as a commitment to providing U.S. security assistance to Ukraine for an indefinite period.
(Left) Former President Donald Trump delivers remarks at a campaign rally in Reading, Pa., on Oct. 9, 2024. (Right) Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a rally in Flint, Mich., on Oct. 4, 2024. Chip Somodevilla, Scott Olson/Getty Images
Trump, meanwhile, has criticized such policies as risking war between Russia and NATO and has hinted he'd be a peace broker who would bring Russia back to the table in order to reintegrate it with the West.
Neither candidate has quite made clear how they’d bring an end to the conflict, but both have also made sweeping statements about their own visions for the resolution of the conflict.
Sam Kessler, a geopolitical analyst with the risk advisory firm North Star Support Group, told The Epoch Times that the widely divergent stances on Ukraine stemmed from “two different foreign policy philosophies.”
Biden and Harris approach the conflict from a Cold War mindset that sought to degrade Russia through proxy war in Ukraine, Kessler said. Trump, meanwhile, takes a realpolitik approach, seeking to shift U.S. focus toward China.
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Those two philosophies, Kessler said, result in quite different strategies.
“Vice President Harris’s stance on Ukraine is … to continue supporting the Ukrainians with the fighting against the Russians,” Kessler said.
Harris has taken a hard line against any approach to ending the conflict that would end in Ukraine ceding territory to Russia, calling such proposals “dangerous and unacceptable.”
She’s indicated she’d continue her predecessor’s approach, saying that continued U.S. support for Ukraine is “in our strategic interest.”
This approach could risk a “stress test” to the international system, Kessler said, potentially leading to volatility in world financial markets.
Hanging over the conflict is the threat of escalation.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has pushed for permission to strike at Russia directly using U.S. long-range missiles, which is reportedly a focal point of Ukraine’s “victory plan” presented to President Joe Biden and Harris last month.
So far, the White House has declined to give such permissions to Ukraine, as Russia has indicated that it might consider a first-use nuclear attack should Ukraine strike Russian territory.
That threat guides Trump’s realpolitik approach.
“Former President Trump’s stance has been to mainly resolve the conflict before the situation gets out of hand and the chance of repairing relations with the Russians becomes non-existent.”
During his debate with Harris, Trump said that she and Biden’s approach to Ukraine didn’t take the nuclear threat posed by Russia seriously enough.
“We’re going to end up in a third World War, and it will be a war like no other because of nuclear weapons, the power of weaponry,” Trump said.
He’s indicated that he would force Russia and Ukraine to negotiate terms for peace, promising that he would begin to pursue an end to the war before he even assumed office.
—Andrew Thornbrooke, Joseph Lord
WHOEVER WINS THIS PENNSYLVANIA COUNTY IS EXPECTED TO WIN THE WHITE HOUSE
Erie County, Pennsylvania, is a place buzzing with political activity in the lead-up to the 2024 presidential election.
Situated at the northernmost corner of the state, the county includes Erie, Pennsylvania’s fifth largest city. Beyond that, suburbs surround the outskirts of the city, leading into rural areas and small townships to the south.
“I try to explain it this way: if you take all of Pennsylvania … and you shrink it down, it’s Erie because we’ve got large industry, we’ve got tool and die … the small mom and pop places. The southern part of the county is all rural, strictly agricultural. You’ve got diversity,” Tom Eddy, chairman of the Erie County GOP, told The Epoch Times.
The county often predicts statewide winners and has swung substantially between the two parties in recent cycles, with Republicans reclaiming the county by a 1.6 percent margin in 2016 before losing it by a narrow 1 percent margin in 2020.
Now, both parties are hoping to hold onto the county, which has a large enough population—271,000 residents—to play a decisive role in a close race.
Republicans on the ground are targeting the area’s white working-class voters, who’ve trended toward Republicans. It’s a bloc that makes up a substantial share of the electorate in Erie County.
Republicans’ HQ, situated a few miles outside the city, is buzzing with activity: voters dropped by every 10 minutes to collect apparel like bumper stickers and yard signs, to receive or return voter registration forms or mail-in ballots, or to buy pro-Trump t-shirts for their kids.
“The energy level is extremely high. That’s what I’ve noticed more than I’ve noticed in any of the other elections,” Eddy said.
Democrats’ HQ in the city has a more muted atmosphere. Volunteers talked, watched television, and took calls in the large back room of the office space.
The chairman of the Erie County Democratic Party admits that his party’s position in Erie looks bad “on paper.”
But he pointed to recent Democratic victories such as Sen. John Fetterman’s 9-point victory and Gov. Josh Shapiro’s 22-point victory, both in 2022.
They also maintain strong and growing support from the city itself, which is home to large immigrant and student populations. They’ve also seen hopeful signs in the suburbs of some growing support.
Republicans seem to have strong enthusiasm on their side, but it remains to be seen whether Trump can ultimately reclaim the county, which will be crucial in his strategy to counteract the impact of metropolitan giants like Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, where Democrats receive the bulk of their support.
—Joseph Lord
BOOKMARKS
Biden announced $612 million in funding to help restore Florida’s electric grid in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton, The Epoch Times’ Jacob Burg reported. The emergency funding comes as more than 900,000 Floridians remain without power due to damages caused by the storm.
Hurricanes Helene and Milton, which have left large swaths of North Carolina and Florida devastated, exposed how vulnerable our communities truly are to disaster. The Epoch Times’ Makai Allbert reported on how to make sure you’re prepared, detailing the core items and plans you’ll need in the event of a catastrophe.
An armed man was arrested outside the perimeter of a Trump rally in Coachella, California, The Epoch Times’ Brad Jones reported. The local sheriff has said he believes his deputies prevented another assassination attempt after they discovered firearms in the vehicle. The individual has been released on bond, with investigations into the matter ongoing.
A growing number of states and localities are increasing restrictions on cell phone use by students in the classroom, The Epoch Times’ Aaron Gifford reported. Seven states have laws on the books prohibiting cell phone use during instruction time or requiring districts to impose restrictions at the local level.
