On February 11th, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine in an escalation of the Russo-Ukraine war that started in 2014. Since then the war has not de-escalated or died down. Although Ukraine is not formally a part of NATO, it applied to become a member and has a good relationship with NATO. In 2020 the elections had an intensely close call, (Biden %51.3 Trump %46.9). Even with Biden’s winning, tensions were high. As the war came, Trump and Biden had different ideas about what should happen but ultimately it was Biden’s decision.
With the 2024 elections approaching, it seems like the top contenders for the Republican and Democratic sides are Trump and Biden, respectively. As the Russia-Ukraine conflict persists, their differing opinions on how to handle the situation continue to clash.
On February 11, 2024, Donald Trump made a statement suggesting that Russia was free to act as they pleased. He specified that any NATO member country that did not meet the defense and weapons spending guidelines could be targeted. Trump boasted that he had rescued NATO from being in a state of disrepair and claimed that everyone would now have to pay. He made these comments while celebrating his victory over Nikki Haley at a rally in South Carolina.
However, the current president of the United States, Joe Biden, thought these remarks were un-American, dumb, and shameful. Biden said Trump’s comments about the mutual defense pact were “dangerous and shocking.” Biden said that “when America gives its word, it means something,” and called Trump’s comments sowing doubt about its commitments ”un-American.” Calling someone who will run as president “un-American” is a very intense statement.
The upcoming decisions will be based entirely on the election results, which are expected to be close based on the last election.
