US foreign policy is likely to undergo a dramatic overhaul over the next few months following a decisive poll victory for Donald Trump. The President-elect has repeatedly insisted that he can end ongoing wars in Ukraine and Gaza within weeks — even before his inauguration on January 20. But this might take a somewhat unexpected shape and form.
Donald Trump and Joe Biden have drastically different approaches to the ongoing international conflicts — with the Republican leader often making broad policy pledges that put “America First”. He has also been vocal in his admiration for authoritarians leaders such as Viktor Orban in Hungary and Vladimir Putin in Russia.
Trump has also insisted on several occasions that he could oversee an end to both conflicts within weeks — well before his inauguration on January 20.
“They’re dying, Russians and Ukrainians. I want them to stop dying. And I’ll have that done — I’ll have that done in 24 hours,” he had insisted in May 2023.
Despite similar assertions being repeated on the campaign trail over the past year details remain scarce. Trump has given no clear indication beyond plans to oversee a deal between the two countries. He has also criticised the level of US support for Kyiv and refused to say he wants Ukraine to win.
“If we had a real president, a president that knew — that was respected by Putin…he would have never invaded Ukraine,” he added in July while campaigning against Biden.
Campaign officials for Trump have also said that negotiating a quick end to the Russia-Ukraine war would be a “top priority” for his second term. Campaign communications director Steven Cheung had also said that the POTUS-elect believed “European nations should be paying more of the cost of the conflict”.
According to a Times of Israel report published last week, Trump has also called for Israel to end the Gaza war by the time he enters office.
Trump also appears to be somewhat unburdened by international law and UN security council resolutions and several of his top aides (past and present) are vocal supporters of the settler movement. His son-in-law Jared Kushner for example extolled the great value of “waterfront property” in Gaza during an interview at Harvard University earlier this year. He had also suggested that the IDF should relocate civilians to the Negev desert in southern Israel while it “cleans up” the strip.
It is pertinent to recall that the previous Trump administration had also recognised Israeli sovereignty over Golan Heights — an area that the rest of the world considers Syrian territory held by Tel Aviv under military occupation.
