The Republican rift over the United States’ support for Ukraine was on vivid display this week, as 2024 presidential hopefuls staked out opposing positions on whether President Joe Biden’s administration has done too much or too little to help the country a year into Russia’s invasion.
The divide over the US role in Ukraine is one of the opening fault lines of a GOP race that is only beginning to take shape – and one that could become a heated topic when Republican primary debates begin in the coming months.
What GOP presidential candidates, and those taking steps toward entering the race, broadly agree on is that Biden has mishandled the situation.
But those hopefuls are split into two camps: Isolationists, particularly former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who believe the United States is too involved in supporting Ukraine’s efforts to fend off the Russian invasion; and hawks, including several former Trump administration officials, who argue for an even more aggressive posture toward Russia. Both sides are warning that if their positions aren’t heeded, a world war could follow.
Trump and DeSantis both accused Biden of provoking unnecessary clashes with global powers by traveling to Ukraine on Monday.
Meanwhile, Nikki Haley, the former United Nations ambassador who last week became the second major candidate to declare her candidacy, took the opposite position in stops in New Hampshire and Iowa, arguing for a more forceful US role.
“It’s more than just about Ukraine. This is a war about freedom. And it’s a war we have to win,” the former South Carolina governor said Monday night in Urbandale, Iowa.
Trump this week has repeatedly lambasted Biden for his Kyiv trip.
“World War III has never been closer than it is right now,” Trump said Tuesday in a video in which he…
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