In this post I'll address the 7 questions on foreign policy using the same format.
12. Many Ukraine supporters think the Biden administration has been too cautious with its aid. Would you be more aggressive with the kind of weapons you sent?
Correct answer: What the heck do you mean by "more aggressive"? Under my administration, we will continue to work with Congress to supply Ukraine with all the supplies and weapons they can use in their war with Russia.
Political answer: My administration will continue to aid Ukraine in its battle to preserve democracy. We hope that the Republicans in Congress will continue to give President Zelensky the powerful weapons he needs to fight Putin.
Trump answer: This war would never have started if the Democrats hadn't stolen the election. I can deal with Putin. I will end the war on day one.
13. Military analysts are skeptical that Ukraine can ever regain all of its prewar territory. How does this war end?
Correct answer: I agree with the military experts. It is not possible for Ukraine to win this war. At some point, President Zelensky and the Ukrainian people will come to the realization that the war has to be ended with a negotiated peace where Ukraine cedes a considerable amount of territory and agrees not to join NATO. When that happens, the United States and our NATO allies will guarantee the remaining territory of Ukraine and tell Putin that we will go to war with Russia if he ever attacks again.
Political answer: The Ukrainian people are determined to re-take all of the territory that was captured after Putin's illegal invasion and put him on trial for war crimes. The United States will do all it takes to ensure that Ukraine can achieve this goal. Slava Ukraini!!
Trump answer: The leaders of Ukraine and Russia respect me much more than they respect commie Kamala. I will end the war on day one.
15. The Biden administration initially distanced itself from Saudi Arabia but has since signaled that the U.S. needs the Saudis — much as the Trump administration believed — both to help moderate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and to counter Iran’s aggression. What would your Saudi policy be?Correct answer: The United States and our allies support a two-state solution that gives the Palestinians the right to govern themselves, including those Palestinians in the West Bank. This can only come about if the Palestinian authority agrees to stop all attacks on Israel.
Benjamin Netanjahou opposes a two-state solution and he continues to occupy the West Bank and to encourage Israeli settlements in violation of the wishes of the United Nations General Assembly. The International Court of Justice declared that the occupation of the West Bank is illegal. I will continue the current policy of the Biden administration, which is to work behind the scenes to encourage a change of government in Israel and stop the unnecessary slaughter and suffering of the Palestinian people in Gaza.
Political answer: All civilized people condemn the October 7th terrorist attack by Hamas in which innocent Israeli people were tortured and murdered. Young girls were raped and babies were killed in front of their mothers. Hundreds of hostages were taken, many if them have been murdered in the past eleven months.
We also condemn the brutal and unnecessary attacks on the civilian population in Gaza and the appalling conditions under which they now live. Our administration will continue do everything it can to get food and supplies into Gaza to prevent more deaths. We are working hard to get a cease fire deal and the return of the remaining hostages.
Trump answer: I've done more for Israel than any President in history. This war would never have happened if I was President. It's all Harris and Biden's fault. I will end the war in Gaza on day one.
Correct answer: I will continue the policy of distancing the United States from its former reliance on Saudi Arabia as our only close ally in the region. We will never condone the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by the Saudi government. We will continue to develop relationships with other states in the region, especially the Gulf States, Jordan, and Egypt, as a better option.
The government of Saudi Arabia has very little to do with any future settlement between Israel and the Palestinians; in fact, it is distrusted by both sides. We don't need any help from Saudi Arabia in order to deal with Iran; on the contrary, our close ties with Saudi Arabia made it more difficult to negotiate with Iran.
Political answer: Saudi Arabia is a close ally of the United States and that relationship will continue when I am President. That does not preclude relationships with other nations in the region.
Trump answer: I love the King of Saudi Arabia. It was the first country I visited when I was President. He loves me. He gave me some very nice presents. Thanks to me, the USA now produces more oil than they do.
16. Iran has made progress toward being able to build a nuclear weapon. If intelligence agencies told you that Iran was building a weapon, would you order a military attack? Or can the world live with a nuclear-armed Iran?
Correct answer: President Obama negotiated the Iran Nuclear Deal where Iran agreed to not build nuclear weapons. The agreement was signed by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States). President Trump cancelled America's involvement in that deal, which caused Iran to re-start development of nuclear weapons. Our current position is that we will reinstate the treaty if Iran agrees to certain conditions and, although the negotiations are difficult, it is my hope that we can achieve success.
I understand why Iran might want nuclear weapons as a deterrent against Israel, which already has a large supply of nuclear weapons, so part of the negotiations might involve pressuring Israel to sign the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT)
By the way, this kind of "gotcha" journalism is not the sort of questions I would have expected from the old New York Times that we all used to respect.
Political answer: The united States will do everything in its power to prevent Iran from developing and deploying nuclear weapons.
Trump answer: The United States is the most powerful country in the world. I will order my generals to destroy Iran if they even think about building a nuclear bomb.
17. Taiwan is a thriving democracy that China evidently wants to conquer. Biden has said that the U.S. would fight to defend Taiwan if China attacked. Still, some experts doubt the U.S. would. If China did invade, what would you do?
Correct answer: Most military experts say that China is not capable of invading and conquering Taiwan at the present time. I doubt very much that they really want to do that. China is content with a two-China policy as long as it isn't provoked or embarrassed by foreign countries interfering in Taiwan.
If China tries to invade Taiwan, it will only be under circumstances where they know they can succeed. The United States will not go to war with China under those circumstances because the 7th fleet can probably not survive in the South China Sea and it's unlikely that the United States could land troops in Taiwan and keep them supplied.
My administration will continue our current policy of supporting Taiwan and I will try and tone down the rhetoric against China and military provocation in the South China Sea.
Political answer: The United States will continue to support democracy in Taiwan and that includes fighting to defend it against China if necessary.
Trump answer: We have the most powerful military the world has ever seen. We are even more powerful than Rome! I know President Xi, he gave me some nice presents. I will order my generals to destroy China if Xi ever tries to attack Taiwan.
Correct answer: It's none of our goddamn business what budget decisions other countries make concerning their military and other priorities. I will not be pressuring other countries to spend more on our military-industrial complex in order to match the choices that we are making concerning the relative importance of the military compared to the pressing needs of our people with respect to education, health care, and income inequality. It's embarrassing that the people in those other countries rank consistently happier than the American people.
I spent six years living in Canada when I was in high school and that gave me a deep appreciation of the differences in culture and priorities between our two countries.
Political answer: I hope that those other countries will live up to the promises they have made to increase military spending.
Trump answer: Those other countries are ripping us off! If they don't spend more on their military they won't be protected by the United States. I won't lift a finger if Russia invades Canada or Japan.
8 comments :
Enjoyable post! The Trump answers had me laughing. All in all scarily close to the truth I think.
"This can only come about if the Palestinian authority agrees to stop all attacks on Israel," says the author.
As simple as is untrue.
Nothing more than a lazy causal fallacy, i.e., 'after this, therefore because of this'—false both in its origin and in its historical development.
As it stands, it clearly fits into the Trump rhetorical category, as it reduces cognitive load and provides emotional comfort while avoiding critical discussion and deeper engagement.
12 and 13 both extremely dumb “correct answers”. More aggressive - e.g not saying all weapons “they can use” but finally stating the objective - Ukraine being free from occupation and giving necessary weapons to achieve said objective( not once was this done since the war started). No they wont only way, they will is if US and west continue failing them in providing necessary equipment. They will still be well aware that Russia wont hold up to any “new” agreement as they didn't in the past e.g. Budapest memorandum, Minsk agreements, countless others. Especially, if US gives them another vague guarantees of security like they did in Budapest memorandum instead of accepting them to NATO. Taking of Ukraine by Russia was never about NATO. In 2008 Ukraine was rejected even for MEP status. In 2014 Russia invaded Crimea and Donbas. Before 2022, Ukraine was already in territorial dispute which would make joining NATO difficult. Genocidal invasion of Ukraine was ALWAYS about putin not believing Ukraine has a right for self determination and basic state existence independent of Russia. He many times denied Ukraine statehood. You are extremely naive if you think putin is going to be fine with independent Ukraine. He never was. Shouldn't we demand that no other country can join CSTO as well if we accept demands that independent state Ukraine is not allowed to join NATO? I will give you the correct answer now: Support Ukraine militarily in an unprecedented scale not seen since the war started, allow Ukraine any strike or invasion of Russia with the goal of getting their territory back, if desired draw red line in e.g. no US soldier in Ukraine - all support through weapons. Once Ukraine frees territory allow them to join NATO immediately to prevent ruzzia attacking again. Ruzzia successfully infiltrated with their BS both far left and far right in US. Sad to see. Stop giving dumb advice and start learning about history.
@MJ Ukrainians will decide for themselves how and when they want to end this war. It would be wonderful if they could reconquer all the territory taken by Russia and the rebels.
It's not looking good right now. Russian troops are slowly taking over more and more of the Donbas region and there doesn't seem to be anything that the Ukrainian forces can do to stop them.
I'm pretty sure that the Ukrainians know their history. Don't be surprised if they have learned different lessons than you have.
@Arek Wittbrodt Yes, many people have told me that I'm repeating Russian propaganda. They then go on to prove it by repeating Ukrainian propaganda.
Here's a map of the current conflict from the Institute for the Study of War.
Interactive Map: Russia's Invasion of Ukraine
This map is updated every day so you can see for yourself which side is gaining territory and which side is losing it. It's certainly true that the Ukrainians are doing a heroic job of defending their country against a much more powerful enemy but you should look closely at the actual battles going on right now to see who is winning.
There are three key battles to watch over the next few days. The first is the Russian counter-attack against the Ukrainian forces that captured part of the Kursk region of Russia. The Russians have retaken a big hunk of that territory and are threatening to cut off the Ukrainian troops that ventured too far from the border.
The second is the Russian attack on the high ground around Chasiv Yar, just west of Bakhmut. The Ukrainians have been putting up an excellent and costly defense for the past month but the Russians seem to be advancing.
The third battle is the Russian advance on the key city of Pokrovsk. The Ukrainians have already evacuated the civilian population and it seems like the city will fall in a few weeks. This will be a major blow to Ukrainian defenses. The Russian advance includes an attack on an old Ukrainian salient east of Hirnyk. The Ukrainians have to withdraw soon or they will be surrounded.
I don't know of a single military expert who thinks that Ukraine will ever reconquer the Donbas or Crimea, do you?
Yes it would be wonderful, and it (sadly) most likely wont happen with the current low level support in the west. You and other Z fans like you suggest lowering it to force negotiations which have 0 chance of leading to a ruzzia that does not want to continue genocide of “ungrateful” Ukrainians (from the map.). Any new security guarantees for Ukraine will be pretty much a joke to ruzzia. Wont be surprised if they send rockets flying very next day.
I will confident about Ukrainians knowledge of their history. Cant say that about yours when you call anyone in Donbas “rebel” . FYI in 2014 russia invaded Crimea and in April Donbas using FSB, GRU agents and regular and irregular russian forces. There were no significant number of “rebels” in Donbas population. Corraborated even by statement of russian agents e.g Girkin. Again learn history and stop talking about things you know nothing about
@MJ Here's the Wikipedia article on Russian separatist forces in Ukraine. I have no idea whether its claims are completely false as you maintain. Note that I am not disputing the fact that the militia were completely controlled by Russia.
I assume we both want the killing in Ukraine to end. How do YOU think that's going to happen? Do you think the war is only going to end when Ukraine reconquers all of its territory?
Not completely but it does not fully capture reality in 2014 and uses unhelpful language. There is evidence that first protests in Donbas were already co organized by ruzzia e.g (Glazyev tapes) war started when Girkin group came from Crimea in April and killed SBU officer ( first confirmed kill). A lot of those “militias” were created inside russia and fully ruzzian e.g Wagner, Rusich. Anyway even these” militias “ suffered from low support and recruitment failure. They were losing territories and would lose the war already in August without russian regular forces. There are videos of literal convoys of military vehicles coming to Ukraine in August. Language like “rebels” militias” and “separatists” is fundamentally inaccurate.
Russia is nowhere near in economic power compared to west and failure to provide Ukraine with enough military weapons is our main problem. About your question , yes I dont see ruzzia stoping or respecting any future agreement. Military superiority for Ukraine and pressure on ruzzia should be our main goals.
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