(Bloomberg) -- Former President Donald Trump’s choice of JD Vance as his running mate makes his break with the foreign policy old guard of his party complete.
The first formal pick of his potential administration is a 39-year-old ex-Marine who voted against more military aid to Ukraine, wants to help Israel “finish the job” against Hamas, and argues the US is “stretched too thin” overseas and should zero in on Asia to counter China.
His views mirror the rise of a new strain of policy shared by younger Republicans — and fueled by Trump — that the old ways are out of date. Their approach questions the one-time conventional wisdom that the US should seek primacy through leading global alliances, promote democracy and entice other nations to embrace American values.
“This is the first appointment he has made of his supposed second term,” Ivo Daalder, the US ambassador to NATO under President Barack Obama, said of Trump’s choice of Vance. “And it demonstrates that what he’s looking for is someone who affirms his views, not contradicts them, at least as far as it comes to Ukraine and NATO and foreign policy.”
More broadly, the pick signals that Trump has less interest in trying to reassure the party traditionalists he wooed in 2016. In his first term, Trump surrounded himself with a group that came to be known as the adults in the room, appointees like former Exxon Mobil Corp. chief Rex Tillerson and retired General Jim Mattis. Sometimes they openly resisted Trump’s directives. Other times they quietly ignored them.
This time, Trump is openly breaking with the GOP defense establishment, such as his previous vice president, Mike Pence, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. McConnell, who has announced he won’t seek another term as his party’s leader, has waged a rhetorical fight against isolationist voices like Vance’s, which he has likened to the “America First” movement that opposed aiding the UK and other allies before the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.
McConnell was booed when he appeared before the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on Monday, while Vance got a rock star’s welcome when he came to the floor soon after Trump announced his pick.
Yet others set Vance’s view firmly in a longer-term trend that dates back at least as far as Obama — who championed a much-touted “pivot” to Asia.
“Ever since President Kennedy, the United States has been asking for Europe to do more,” UK politician David Lammy said in May, before he became foreign secretary with the Labour Party’s win this month. “My friend, Senator Vance, is right to say we in Europe have a problem that we need to fix with higher defense expenditure.”
It’s far too early to know how much Trump would listen to Vance’s counsel if they win in November. But if he does, the US will take an even more skeptical view toward Ukraine than Trump has expressed so far. The Ohio senator says he opposes any further aid to Ukraine and has pushed for peace as soon as possible.
“I think it’s ridiculous that we’re focused on this border in Ukraine,” Vance once said on Steve Bannon’s podcast. “I’ve got to be honest with you, I don’t really care what happens to Ukraine one way or the other.”
He adds to the voices around Trump who have made clear they won’t push back against the former president’s skepticism, and might fuel it even more. Another is Trump’s former ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, who said at a Bloomberg News roundtable on Monday that Ukraine’s territorial integrity should be preserved but any deal should allow for “autonomous zones,” or areas where Russian-backed separatists retain control.
Vance’s views would be a boon to Asian nations and Taiwan, which have warned about growing Chinese encroachment. He’s said he’s a “fan of AUKUS,” the defensive alliance with the UK and Australia that looks to counter China with a boosted fleet of submarines as well as technology-sharing.
“The choice of Vance shows the neoconservative, globalist holdouts in the GOP are pointless and politically powerless,” said Christian Whiton, a State Department political appointee under Presidents George W. Bush and Trump. “Trump followed the mold of Bill Clinton and chose a candidate who reflected his views rather than balanced them out. This is bold and savvy.”
‘Tough Nut’
Early reaction from allies that have benefited from President Joe Biden’s “America’s Back” approach reaffirmed a feeling that hung over last week’s NATO summit in Washington: Despite Biden’s reassurances and Republicans’ insistence that Trump won’t pull out of the alliance, Europe is increasingly on its own.
“The nomination of @JDVance1 as VP shows us in Europe that we must continue to make an effort to take greater care of European security and sovereignty ourselves,” German legislator Metin Hakverdi wrote on X. “Tough nut to crack.”
Vance was welcomed by Republicans across the spectrum, but it garnered swift pushback from those who argue peace negotiations now might let Russian President Vladimir Putin get away with the Ukraine invasion.
“To the extent a Vice President Vance would have any influence, he would unquestionably push President Trump in the direction of abandoning Ukraine,” said Kori Schake, director of foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute. “His views and adamancy will complicate alliance relationships, making more difficult garnering international support for policies that make America safe and prosperous.”
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