Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance’s “America First” foreign policy positions are taking the spotlight as he prepares to deliver his first major primetime speech at the Republican National Convention Wednesday night.
Vance was announced as former President Donald Trump’s running mate on Monday, and since, numerous politicians and media outlets, especially foreign ones, have begun sounding the alarm over what they describe as his “isolationist” policies, warning a Trump-Vance presidency might go so far as to abandon Ukraine amid its war with Russia.
“Trump’s choice of running mate raises fears in Ukraine and EU,” one BBC headline read, with the piece going on to cite a German politician claiming Vance was “more isolationist” and “unpredictable” than Trump.
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Former President Trump’s running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), arrives on the first day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum on July 15, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
The Washington Post wrote that Trump picked “a like-minded isolationist on foreign policy,” while Politico wrote that Vance “spells ‘disaster’ for Europe and Ukraine.”
CNN’s Van Jones described Vance as “a horror on the world stage,” warning “Ukrainians are now in deep trouble.”
When Vance talks about his “America First” foreign policy beliefs, the focus often involves Ukraine, as well as Israel and China.
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U.S. Sen. JD Vance and his wife Usha Chilukuri Vance look on as he is nominated for the office of Vice President on the first day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum on July 15, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Delegates, politicians, and the Republican faithful are in Milwaukee for the annual convention, concluding with former President Donald Trump accepting his party’s presidential nomination. The RNC takes place from July 15-18. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
He has been a vocal critic of the various foreign aid packages, which included assistance for Ukraine. “The problem in Ukraine … is that there’s no clear end point,” he remarked on one occasion.
“The United States has sent tens of billions worth of military aid to Ukraine with shockingly little accountability for where those resources have gone,” he said in another instance.
Vance has largely made support for Israel amid its war with Hamas an exception to his opposition to foreign aid, and has argued against “micromanaging” their military operations. He’s also called for rooting out Hamas as a military organization, and said the world should “empower” Israel to do it.
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump and Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, attend the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum, Tuesday, July 16, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Vance’s opposition to foreign aid is driven largely by his view that it’s a distraction from China, which he describes as the “biggest threat” currently facing the U.S.
The first-term Ohio senator’s speech is expected to fall fully in line with the night’s “Make America Strong Once Again” theme, and will, according to one source in his political orbit, be focused “heavily on his bio and incredible life story and how that ties into the America First agenda.”
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His speech will also “connect his life experiences to the Trump policies. Folding in his firsthand experience of a tough upbringing that shaped his views on a lot of the biggest issues he is passionate about,” which include “trade, immigration, ending endless wars, fentanyl and drugs, and how inflation hurts the poor the most,” another source told Fox.
Fox News’ Julia Johnson contributed to this report.