Former President Trump will deliver his big speech Thursday night to accept the GOP presidential nomination.
While foreign policy is unlikely to be a major part of his speech, his push for more isolationism is likely to come up.
Trump’s selection of Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), a critic of U.S. aid to Ukraine, has reignited conversations at the RNC surrounding the party’s diminishing support for allies.
Vance, in a Wednesday speech, echoed Trump when he said allies must pay up with regards to defense spending, to earn the U.S.’s backing.
“We will make sure our allies share in the burden of securing world peace,” he said. “No more free rides for nations that betray the generosity of the American taxpayer.”
Trump has threatened to not defend allies that don’t pay enough in defense spending, which has remained a tense topic between the U.S. and European allies in NATO.
Still, a record number of NATO allies — 23 — have now reached NATO’s defense spending target — 2 percent of a nation’s gross domestic product (GDP).
Trump has also vowed to end the war in Ukraine before he takes office, spurring concerns that he may cede territory to Russia in return for a fragile peace.
Vance has previously called for the U.S. to halt aid to Kyiv.
Trump also sparked new concerns this week on the other side of the world when he said Taiwan should have to pay for its defense.
“We’re no different than an insurance company,” he said of U.S. support for Taiwan.
Taiwanese officials quickly reacted to Trump, saying they could step up their share of defense spending but also reiterating their commitment to strengthening defense.
“In the future, Taiwan will continue to work with the United States,” Kuoyu Chiao, the deputy head of the North America department in Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry, said Thursday.
Backing Taiwan, which is under threat from China, has bipartisan support on Capitol Hill.
But Trump’s comments indicate how much the former president is remaking the GOP’s foreign policy under his America First principle.
Nikki Haley, who unsuccessfully challenged Trump in the primary and pushed for Reagan-esque policies to support allies like Ukraine, gave her full support for the former president at the RNC this week.
