Senator J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), former President Trump’s newly announced running mate, has worked in recent years to promote former President Trump’s “America First” global policy and establish himself as a key surrogate on the world stage.
Trump’s announcement on Monday that he had chosen Vance as his running mate added significance to the senator’s foreign policy speeches, interviews and meetings on Capitol Hill with foreign officials and advocates who have sought to influence him on U.S. assistance to Ukraine.
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, as opposition shadow foreign secretary, met with Mr Vance in May.
RummyIntroduced to VanceHe called the Ohio senator a “friend” and agreed that “there are problems in Europe that need to be solved by increasing defense spending.”
At the Munich Security Conference in February, Vance touted President Trump’s “America First” foreign policy and said European countries should take on more responsibility for military defense, especially manufacturing, so the United States can pour resources into Asia to counter an aggressive China.
“We want Europe to succeed, but Europe has to play a bigger role in its own security, and it can’t do that without industry,” he said.
Trump has long been a sharp critic of European allies for not increasing their own military spending, arguing they are too reliant on the United States for defense.
Vance said the U.S. is not producing enough military supplies to maintain the level of aid being sent to Kiev and questioned whether the U.S. can maintain its military support for Ukraine.
And he called for working with Russian President Putin for “American interests.”
“I’ve never argued that Putin is a kind or friendly guy. I’ve always argued that he is a guy with special interests and the United States has to accommodate those special interests,” Vance said at the Munich Security Conference.
“But just because he’s a bad person doesn’t mean we can’t do basic diplomatic work and put American interests first. There are a lot of bad people in the world, and I’m much more interested in East Asian issues than I am in Europe right now.”
Trump has also touted his ties to Putin and pledged to quickly negotiate an end to the Ukraine war once he returns to the White House, raising concerns that he could pressure Ukraine to cede territory as part of any ceasefire deal.
On the Middle East, Vance echoed President Trump’s call for Israel to “finish the job” against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, saying Israeli-Saudi relations can only be established once Hamas is defeated in the Gaza Strip. Saudi Arabia has said it cannot establish relations with Israel until it sees a realistic path to establishing a Palestinian state.
“Our goal in the Middle East is for Israel to have good relations with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab countries. That’s not possible unless Israel finishes its business with Hamas,” he said in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” in May.
“If they can’t even do that, the attitude in the Middle East is going to be, ‘These guys can’t be trusted, they’re not pursuing their national security.’ So we need them to finish the job, and hopefully beyond that we’ll see a new era in the Middle East.”
