See how Trump and Harris’ positions on military support compare

There are similarities in the military’s long-term strategy between former President Donald Trump and President Biden, but in the run-up 2024 electionsSharp differences have emerged in Harris’s and Trump’s views on the role of the military.

Trump, as commander in chief, has political experience and views on the military. But former advisers with whom he clashed during his presidency warned that a second Trump administration could be very different from the first.

There is not much information in Harris’ biography that sheds light on her views on the role of active-duty military personnel. But it is likely that the Harris administration will follow the norms of previous presidents and the national defense strategy under President Biden.

Ukrainian conflict

The Biden-Harris administration has pledged to support Ukraine with military aid but has drawn the line on providing U.S. troops on the ground.

On the campaign trail, Trump said Putin would never have invaded Ukraine while he was president and said, without presenting a plan, that he could end the war in a day.

NATO

Harris reaffirmed the US commitment to NATO at the Munich Security Conference earlier this year. According to Article 5 of the NATO treaty, an attack on any NATO member country will be considered an attack on all NATO countries, and each country will contribute to the collective defense of the alliance, including the use of armed force. During the Biden-Harris administration, NATO admitted two more members to the alliance: Finland and Sweden.

As president, Trump criticized NATO members for not paying more for their own defense, and more NATO countries have since made progress toward the 2% of GDP target NATO set in 2014. On the campaign trail in February, he said: “Russia can do whatever they want” as long as NATO members don’t pay more for their own defense.

Israel and the Middle East

Harris called the U.S.-Israel relationship an important alliance, but also said Israel must do more to prevent civilian casualties in its operations. The Biden administration at some point stopped one shipment of 2,000-pound bombs, warning that it would not supply weapons for the Rafah offensive, but continued to supply other weapons.

Trump, who calls himself a “champion” of Israel, has also called for a quick end to the conflict between Israel and the Gaza Strip, saying in October: “I will support Israel’s right to win the war on terrorism, and it must win it quickly. ”

China

Mr Biden said the US would come to Taiwan’s aid if China invaded, but Harris stuck to the official US policy of “strategic ambiguity” in the 60 Minutes interview. She said it was important to support Taiwan’s ability to defend itself.

Trump dodged questions about whether the US would come to Taiwan’s aid if China invaded. In an interview earlier this year, he said Taiwan should pay the US more to help defend it.

Trump and the “enemy within”

The primary role of the U.S. military is to protect the country from foreign threats, but Trump suggested during his election campaign that he might try to use the military against his political opponents at home.

In October, Trump said in an interview that there would be threats on Election Day that “come from the insiders.”

“We have sick people, left-wing radical lunatics. And I think that they – and this is very easy to deal with – if necessary, the National Guard, and if really necessary, the military, because they cannot allow this to happen,” Trump told Fox News in mid-October.

After Trump made the remarks, John Kelly, a retired four-star Marine general and Trump’s former chief of staff, spoke about his interactions with Trump that raised fears that the former president could rule like a dictator if elected again.

In October, Kelly told the New York Times: “The issue of using the military to persecute American citizens is one of those things that I think is a very, very bad thing – even if it’s for political purposes to get elected – I think it’s very, very bad, let alone actually doing it.” He also told the Times that Trump fits the definition of a fascist.

Trump and his campaign have denied Kelly’s stories.

In 2020, during nationwide protests surrounding the death of George Floyd, Trump threatened use military force against protesters. “If a city or state refuses to take the actions necessary to protect the lives and property of its residents, I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them,” Trump said. After the riots in Washington, he declared: “I am sending thousands and thousands of heavily armed soldiers, military personnel and law enforcement officers to stop the rioting, looting, vandalism, assault and wanton destruction of property.”

Then-Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Trump wanted to send 10,000 active-duty troops to confront protesters in the District of Columbia. In May 2022, Esper told CBS Evening News host Norah O’Donnell that during a June 2020 meeting about the rioters, Trump said, “Can’t you just shoot them? Just shoot them in the legs or something.” Esper said Trump is “suggesting that this is exactly what we should do: send in the troops and shoot the protesters.” (Trump called Esper’s claims “total lies.”)

Esper said in a statement after his meeting with Trump that he does not support using the Insurrection Act, using active-duty forces as law enforcement. Days after the 2020 election, Trump fired him.

Harris condemns domestic use of military

Harris denounced the idea of ​​using military force domestically.

She pointed to Trump’s comments about the U.S. military dealing with an “enemy within” as one reason she believes “a second Trump term would be a huge risk for America—and dangerous.”

The Biden administration, like the Trump administration and previous administrations of both parties, has used the National Guard and a small number of active-duty troops on the southern border to support Customs and Border Protection.

What are Donald Trump’s views on the military?

During his administration, Trump’s national defense strategy pointed to Russia and China as the greatest threats to US national defense.

But the strategy was written by Trump’s then-Defense Secretary and retired general James Mattis. Mattis joined the Trump administration in 2017 and was fired before the end of Trump’s presidency.

Trump told Fox News: “The enemy from within, in my opinion, is more dangerous than China, Russia and all these countries, because if you have a smart president, he can deal with them pretty easily.”

During the campaign, Trump acknowledged the long-term goals of China and Russia while praising their authoritarian leaders.

At a rally in March, Trump called Chinese President Xi Jinping “smart” and said he was “at the top of his game.” He also called Russian President Vladimir Putin “smart” and said the two were “very smart people standing there talking about world order for the next 100 years.”

During his presidency, Trump seemed to on Putin’s side regarding the US intelligence community, which believes that Russia tried to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. “Dan Coats came to me and some others and they said they thought it was Russia,” Trump said at a 2018 news conference after meeting Putin. “I have President Putin, he just said that this is not Russia. I will say this, I don’t see any reason why that would be the case.” Later he said that he had misspoke.

What is Kamala Harris’s view on the military?

The national defense strategy under the Biden administration was not much different from Trump’s. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin called China a “critical challenge” – or a threat that the Defense Department must deal with in the long term – and Russia an “acute challenge” or a threat that could cause problems in the near future.

Harris was vice president when the strategy was developed, and Austin told reporters earlier this year that Harris was a “key player.”

“Watching her contribute to some very complex decision-making processes, she is always prepared, she always provides meaningful and very helpful input,” Austin said at a press conference in July. “The president is the main player in this process, but she is the key player,”

In an interview with 60 Minutes, Harris was asked which country is the United States’ biggest enemy.

“I think the obvious reason is Iran,” she said.

Amid conflict in the Middle East, recent weeks have seen Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen – both proxies of Iran – launch rocketsmissiles and drones against Israel, and Iran-backed militias fire at American troops stationed in Iraq and Syria. In response, the United States launched airstrikes against Iranian weapons facilities in Syria. The US also deployed two carrier strike groups to the region.