- Since President Joe Biden withdrew his candidacy in the 2024 election on Sunday, Vice President Kamala Harris appears to be a front-runner to take his place on the ballot
- Harris and Republican nominee Donald Trump represent different sides on many major foreign policy issues, likely to become more pronounced if she becomes the Democrats' new candidate
- Compared to Harris, who is expected to follow in Biden's footsteps on key foreign policy, Trump is hawkish on China, flexible towards Russia, and a strong backer of Israel in its genocidal war in Gaza ISTANBUL
With Joe Biden no longer on the ballot, Vice President Kamala Harris appears to be the front-runner for the Democratic nomination in what would pit her against Republican nominee Donald Trump.
On foreign policy, Trump and Harris represent two opposing sides on many issues, including Russia, Ukraine, China, and Iran.
Harris is expected to largely follow in Biden's foreign policy footsteps on these key issues.
Seeking another term in the Oval Office after losing to Biden in 2020, former President Trump is hawkish on China, flexible towards Russia, and a strong backer of Israel in its genocidal war in Gaza.
His "America First" agenda generally prioritizes domestic issues in the US over global affairs, often putting international issues and regional conflicts in the back seat.
Ukraine-Russia war
Like Biden, Harris has given Ukraine robust support as it defends against Russia.
In June, Harris represented her country at the Summit for Peace in Ukraine, where she met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the sixth time.
In supporting Kyiv, she has also been a strong advocate of transatlantic cooperation.
At the Munich Security Conference in February, she reiterated the Biden administration's pledge to support Ukraine for "as long as it takes."
She has also accused Moscow of being "responsible" for the death of Russian opposition politician Alexey Navalny.
In Munich, Harris endeavored to reassure allies of US security support against Russian aggression and other threats.
"The American people will meet this moment. And America will continue to lead," she said.
Meanwhile, Trump has repeatedly said he could end the war between Russia and Ukraine when he is elected president again.
During his speech at a CNN town hall event in May 2023, he said: "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."
The US has provided tens of billions of dollars in military aid to Kyiv since Russia's war began in February 2022, but a potential Trump victory could jeopardize future support.
Trump's running mate, James David, or JD, Vance has also been one of the skeptics of providing aid to Ukraine.
In a speech at the Quincy Institute, he said: "I certainly admire the Ukrainians who are fighting against Russia, but I do not think that it is in America's interest to continue to fund an effectively never-ending war in Ukraine."
"For three years, the Europeans have told us that Vladimir Putin is an existential threat to Europe. And for three years, they have failed to respond as if that were actually true," he told Politico in a separate interview.
Israel's war on Gaza
As vice president, Harris has largely aligned with Biden in supporting Israel's war on Gaza after an attack by Palestinian resistance group Hamas on Oct. 7.
However, she has occasionally been more critical of Israel's military tactics than the president.
She openly criticized Israel in March, stating it was not doing enough to alleviate "humanitarian catastrophe" unfolding during its ground offensive in the Palestinian enclave.
She also did not dismiss the possibility of "consequences" for Israel if it went ahead with a full-scale invasion of Gaza's refugee-packed Rafah area.
Harris also called for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza in March before Biden did.
In comparison, while Trump is also a strong Israel proponent, he has vowed to end the wars in Ukraine and Gaza and free US "hostages."
"We want our hostages back, and they better be back before I take office, or you'll pay a very heavy price," he said at the 2024 Republican National Convention, addressing Gaza-based resistance groups.
During the first US presidential debate, Trump criticized Biden by calling him a "bad Palestinian" and accused him of preventing Israel from "finishing the job."
The former president added: "As far as Israel and Hamas, Israel's the one that wants to go. He (Biden) said the only one who wants to keep going is Hamas. Actually, Israel is the one, and you should let them go and let them finish the job."
In another show of his staunch pro-Israel stance, Trump had unilaterally decided to move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem when he was president in 2017.
China
During her four years as senator for California in 2017-2021, Harris lambasted Trump for his approach on China.
During the 2020 vice presidential debate with Mike Pence, she said Trump had "lost that trade war."
She also noted that his tariffs damaged the US economy without rebalancing the country's relationship with China.
In terms of her lawmaking record, Harris frequently worked on legislation that promoted human rights in Hong Kong when she was a senator.
In another matter related to China, she vowed in September 2022 to "continue to support Taiwan's self-defense, consistent with our long-standing policy."
Harris had a brief meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) Leaders Retreat in 2022, where she urged him to keep lines of communication open to manage the competition between the two nations responsibly.
Trump, has also taken a hardline stance on China, with his policy on Beijing, centered on imposing tariffs of up to 60% on imports from the country.
He advocates for new restrictions on Chinese-owned infrastructure in the US and proposes building a missile defense shield.
His running mate, Vance, argued that policies supported by President Biden and other "out-of-touch politicians" in Washington inundated the US with cheap Chinese goods, foreign labor, and, in the coming decades, potentially deadly Chinese fentanyl.
Vance also told Fox News that China, rather than the war in Ukraine, is the "real issue" for the US and represents the "biggest threat."
On US support for Taiwan, Trump said the island should be paying the US for its defense, likening the US to an insurance company and arguing that Taiwan provides nothing in return for its protection.
"I know the people very well, respect them greatly. They did take about 100% of our chip business. I think Taiwan should pay us for defense," he said in an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek.
Iran
Harris and Trump also have different views on the Iran nuclear deal.
Harris supported the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which aimed to limit Tehran's nuclear program, but Trump unilaterally withdrew from the accord in 2018.
He also withdrew the US from the deal in 2018 and implemented a maximum pressure strategy against Iran, introducing a series of severe sanctions on Iranian entities.
In January 2020, Trump ordered an airstrike near Baghdad's airport that killed Qasem Soleimani, a top commander in Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
During his presidential campaign, he claimed that Iran's dire economic struggles were a direct result of his policies.
"Iran was, as you know, they were broke. They weren't funding Hamas, and they weren't funding anything. They weren't funding Hezbollah," he said.
NATO
Another major component of Harris' foreign policy is her strong endorsement of NATO, asserting that the US will never back away from its commitments to the alliance.
"More broadly, NATO is central to our approach to global security. For President Biden and me, our sacred commitment to NATO remains ironclad," she said at the Munich Conference.
"And I do believe, as I have said before, NATO is the greatest military alliance the world has ever known," she added.
"And I firmly believe our commitment to build and sustain alliances has helped America become the most powerful and prosperous country in the world — alliances that have prevented wars, defended freedom, and maintained stability from Europe to the Indo-Pacific."
Trump, for his part, has repeatedly asserted that several NATO members have not fulfilled their financial commitments under NATO.
Harris has strongly criticized Trump's comments on NATO countries that fail to meet the alliance's 2% defense spending target.
In February, Trump said that when he was president, he had warned that he would not intervene in case of any Russian attack on allies that did not meet their financial obligations to NATO.
