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Donald Trump's latest attempt to pivot his campaign to a policy-focused attack on Vice President Kamala Harris marks a return to a familiar pattern of making concessions to President Vladimir Putin and Russia while trying to portray Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as driving America toward World War III.
Speaking to members of the United States National Guard Association in Detroit, the former president appeared to voice his opposition to Ukraine's recent incursion into Russian territory near Kursk.
While analysts say the Ukrainian military advance is intended to relieve pressure on Ukrainian forces elsewhere on the battlefield, Trump argued it was actually another sign that “World War III” was closer than ever before.
“Look at what's happening in Ukraine. They're pouring into Russia. There will be World War III,” he said.
Trump made the remarks just hours after attending a memorial service at Arlington National Cemetery honoring 13 U.S. soldiers killed in a suicide bombing during the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in 2021.
There, the former president linked Biden's management of the withdrawal – which Trump himself had initiated on a greatly accelerated timeline – to continuing instability around the world.
It's an argument he's made before, less succinctly, but he explained it again before National Guard troops on Monday.
Trump also claimed that Afghanistan's disorderly withdrawal from Kabul and the Abbey Gate attack “led Russia to invade Ukraine, which led to the attack on Israel on October 7th.”
The former president's comments were aimed at his opponent and Joe Biden over ongoing conflicts around the world, but they also allowed him to take credit for not starting any new major conflicts during his presidency.
In his tweet, Trump made no provocative threats to surround North Korea with “fire and fury” or mention the possibility of the regime coming into direct conflict with Iran, including assassinating Iranian Revolutionary Guard leaders.
Monday's event was centered around presenting Trump as a pro-peace candidate and was highlighted by an appearance by Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii and a 2020 presidential candidate.
Since leaving Congress, Gabbard has built a career as a Democratic pundit, appearing regularly on Fox News and other right-wing media, but in 2020 she famously clashed onstage with Harris during a debate over her record as a prosecutor.
The former congressman, who is an active-duty National Guard member, took to the stage to voice his support and assistance for Trump ahead of November, adding that he will “do everything in our power to bring President Trump back to the White House.”
Donald Trump welcomed Tulsi Gabbard onto the stage while speaking to the Michigan National Guard Association in Detroit.
“She has great common sense, a great spirit and she loves our country.” pic.twitter.com/sDRoFStQ4j
— American Conservative (@amconmag) August 26, 2024
Gabbard's defection was something Democrats had long expected, but the Trump campaign's sudden focus on presenting its candidate as the only person who can end world conflict comes as the Harris campaign faces fresh criticism from the left after the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
The DNC's multi-day speaker list included family members of hostages held by Hamas militants in Gaza. No Palestinian-American speakers were featured, but several were recommended before and during the convention by the “Uncommitted” movement, whose representatives and supporters protested outside the convention site last week and several Democratic lawmakers issued a statement calling for speaking slots on the convention's main stage.
Elsewhere on Monday, other members of the former president's campaign sought to reiterate the same argument that Biden and Harris are incapable of responsibly leading America's military.
J.D. Vance, speaking at a Trump campaign news conference, accused Harris and her White House bosses of “betrayal” by not demanding accountability and implementing reforms after the withdrawal from Kabul and the attack on the Abiy Gate.
“Why was nobody fired? Why was nobody punished for what happened, wasting this country's most precious resource – the lives of people prepared to give their all to public service?” Vance asked by phone. “Why was nobody punished for what happened? Why was nobody punished for what happened, wasting this country's most precious resource – the lives of people prepared to give their all to public service?”
“The fact that the Harris Administration continues to stonewall on every front and no one has been fired shows that there is a real crisis of leadership in this country,” the Ohio senator continued.
Donald Trump and J.D. Vance have launched a multi-pronged attack on Kamala Harris over foreign policy as the US marks the third anniversary of the killing of 13 service members in Afghanistan (Getty Images)
There are many elements of the withdrawal from Afghanistan that have been subject to criticism since the Taliban took over the country. Horrifying scenes unfolded on the runway at Hamid Karzai International Airport as US troops were unable to secure the runway and terrified Afghans tried to cling to a huge cargo plane as it took off. Several people were killed in the attempt.
The Abbey Gate attack itself was the single deadliest attack on US troops in Afghanistan in years, and also killed or injured dozens of Afghan civilians who were attempting to enter the runway where the plane was taking off. A retaliatory US strike was aimed at ISIS-linked terrorist targets, but ended up killing one Afghan aid worker and nine of his family members, including seven children.
“As VP Harris said, it was the courageous and right decision to end America's longest war and bring our brave soldiers home. The Biden-Harris administration inherited a mess from Donald Trump, who wants America to forget that it took four years to withdraw from Afghanistan and he failed to do so. All he did was continue our longest war,” Harris campaign spokesman Amar Moosa told The Independent on Monday when asked about her rival's latest criticism. “Trump cannot be trusted to keep us safe, but VP Harris is a proven leader on the world stage and will use her expertise to keep America safe, defeat our enemies and stand up for our allies around the world.”
Former Trump administration Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke was another Trump figure who drew a connection between the Afghanistan mismanagement and the Biden administration's broader foreign policy during a press conference on Monday.
Donald Trump attended a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday to commemorate 13 service members who died during the Afghanistan withdrawal. Later that day, Trump placed the blame for the withdrawal on Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. (Getty Images)
“You know, our country faces a very clear shift, or a clear choice, and that choice is weak leadership, globalist leadership, as we've seen from Afghanistan to Ukraine to the Pacific to Venezuela. As a result of the Harris-Biden administration, we face four major regional conflicts,” Zinke argued.
Trump himself repeated at Monday's event his familiar claim that he could end the war between Russia and Ukraine within months of being elected president. The Republican nominee has been accused by his Democratic opponent of trying to bully Ukraine into giving up territory to achieve that goal. Trump himself has not laid out any concrete plans to end the war or prevent it from spreading to NATO member states in eastern Europe.
During his presidency, Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin at a major bilateral summit in 2018. That summit ended with Trump, with the Russian president standing next to him, publicly speaking out against his country's intelligence agencies regarding Russian hacking and interference in the 2016 presidential election.
