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How Donald Trump and Kamala Harris differ on the Russia-Ukraine war
Washington — The Russian invasion of Ukraine over two years ago rocked the international world order, and it’s become one of the most divisive issues of the 2024 presidential election. Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris advocate very different approaches to involvement in the war and the U.S. relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
While the GOP has become increasingly isolationist with Trump at the helm of the party, Harris has touted the Biden administration’s efforts to strengthen global alliances. And on the issue of Ukraine, the parties have drifted farther apart on how much support the U.S. should be giving to the war-ravaged country more than two years later.
Here’s where the candidates stand on the issue:
Donald Trump on the Russia-Ukraine war
The former president attempted to build friendly relations with Russia while in office and has often praised Putin, calling him “savvy” after the Russian leader recognized the independence of two Russian separatist-controlled areas in eastern Ukraine ahead of the invasion. More recently, Trump has suggested he would not protect NATO members from Russia if they don’t increase defense spending. And he has repeatedly raised questions about U.S. membership in NATO.
On Ukraine, Trump has claimed Putin would never have invaded the country if he were president. And he has frequently claimed he could end the war in a day and would bring Ukraine to the negotiating table. Trump hasn’t said how he plans to do this, but experts think he’d force Ukraine to negotiate an end to the war by denying continued aid.
During the presidential debate with Harris in September, Trump wouldn’t say whether he wanted Ukraine to win in its war with Russia when he was asked, instead responding, “I want the war to stop,” and urging the two countries to negotiate a deal.
“What I’ll do is I’ll speak to one, I’ll speak to the other, I’ll get them together,” Trump said. “That war would have never happened.”
Trump spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy over the phone in July, in what the former president described as a “very good phone call.” He pledged in a social media post after the call that under his presidency, Ukraine and Russia “will be able to come together and negotiate a deal that ends the violence and paves a path forward to prosperity.” A phone conversation between the two leaders nearly five years earlier led to Trump’s first impeachment, when Trump pushed for Zelenskyy to investigate his political rival Joe Biden and his son Hunter.
The former president has been critical of the Biden administration for sending billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine. When the aid became a key issue in Congress earlier this year, with growing opposition from conservatives, Trump himself pushed for a loan framework for aid to Ukraine. At a rally in June, he suggested aid to Ukraine could stop if he returned to office. And his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, has been vocal about the GOP ticket’s opposition to additional Ukraine aid.
Trump’s campaign website touts the former president’s “bold diplomacy” as part of a pledge to “reject globalism and embrace patriotism,” while working to “restore our standing in the world and American leadership abroad” under a second Trump presidency.
Doug Mills/The New York Times/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Kamala Harris on the Russia-Ukraine war
Harris, whose record is shorter than Trump’s but has been associated with the Biden administration’s policies, pledged in her address at the Democratic convention in August that she “will stand strong with Ukraine and our NATO allies.”
President Biden sent the vice president to meet with Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference a few days before the Russian invasion, warning the Ukrainian leader of the Kremlin’s plan and sharing American intelligence that suggested the invasion was imminent as Russian troops massed on Ukraine’s border. A year later, Harris accused Russia of committing “crimes against humanity.” And she’s met with the Ukrainian leader on multiple occasions since.
The Biden administration has spearheaded a number of humanitarian and military aid packages for Ukraine and worked with allies to sanction Russia for its invasion. Still, the administration’s response — especially early on in the war — has been criticized as slow-moving, while Republican opposition in Congress further slowed aid to Ukraine more recently.
During the debate, Harris touted her work in the Biden administration to support Ukraine, warning that if Trump were still president, “Putin would be sitting in Kyiv right now.”
“Understand why the European allies and our NATO allies are so thankful that you are no longer president and that we understand the importance of the greatest military alliance the world has ever known,” Harris said to Trump, “and what we have done to preserve the ability of Zelenskyy and the Ukrainians to fight for their independence.”
Harris’ campaign website dubs her a “tireless and effective diplomat on the world stage,” pledging that she will stand up to dictators. It cites her meeting with Zelenskyy before the war began, and it boasts that Harris has “helped mobilize a global response of more than 50 countries to help Ukraine defend itself against Vladimir Putin’s brutal aggression,” while working with allies to bolster NATO’s strength.
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Yellowstone hiker burned when she falls into scalding water near Old Faithful, park officials say
Yellowstone National Park, Wyo. — A New Hampshire woman suffered severe burns on her leg after hiking off-trail in Yellowstone National Park and falling into scalding water in a thermal area near the Old Faithful geyser, park officials said.
The 60-year-old woman from Windsor, New Hampshire, along with her husband and their leashed dog were walking off a designated trail near the Mallard Lake Trailhead on Monday afternoon when she broke through a thin crust over the water and suffered second- and third-degree burns to her lower leg, park officials said. Her husband and the dog weren’t injured.
The woman was flown to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls, Idaho for treatment.
National Park Service / Jacob W. Frank
Park visitors are reminded to stay on boardwalks and trails in hydrothermal areas and exercise extreme caution. The ground in those areas is fragile and thin and there’s scalding water just below the surface, park officials said.
Pets are allowed in limited, developed areas of Yellowstone park but are prohibited on boardwalks, hiking trails, in the backcountry and in thermal areas.
The incident is under investigation. The woman’s name wasn’t made public.
This is the first known thermal injury in Yellowstone in 2024, park officials said in a statement. The park had recorded 3.5 million visitors through August this year.
Hot springs have injured and killed more people in Yellowstone National Park than any other natural feature, the National Park Service said. At least 22 people have died from hot spring-related injuries in and around the 3,471-square-mile national park since 1890, park officials have said.
TRENTON, N.J. — Democratic Newark City Council President LaMonica McIver has defeated Republican small businessman Carmen Bucco in a contest in New Jersey’s 10th Congressional District that opened up because of the death of Rep. Donald Payne Jr. in April.
McIver will serve out the remainder of Payne’s term, which ends in January. She and Bucco will face a rematch on the November ballot for the full term.
McIver said in a statement Wednesday that she stands on the “shoulders of giants,” naming Payne as chief among them.
She cast ahead to the November election, saying the right to make reproductive health choices was on the ballot as well as whether the economy should benefit the wealthy or “hard working Americans.”
“I will fight because the purpose of politics and the purpose of our vote is to give the people of our communities and our nation a bold voice,” she said.
Bucco congratulated McIver on the victory in a statement but said he’s looking forward to the rematch in November.
“I am not going anywhere,” he said in an email. “We still have a second chance to make district 10 great again!”
Who are LaMonica McIver and Carmen Bucco?
McIver emerged as the Democratic candidate in a crowded field in the July special election. A member of the city council of New Jersey’s biggest city since 2018, she also worked for Montclair Public Schools as a personnel director and plans to focus on affordability, infrastructure, abortion rights and “protecting our democracy,” she told The Associated Press earlier this summer.
Bucco describes himself on his campaign website as a small-business owner influenced by his upbringing in the foster system. He lists support for law enforcement and ending corruption as top issues.
The 10th District lies in a heavily Democratic and majority-Black region of northern New Jersey. Republicans are outnumbered by more than 6 to 1.
It’s been a volatile year for Democrats in New Jersey, where the party dominates state government and the congressional delegation.
Among the developments were the conviction on federal bribery charges of U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, who has denied the charges, and the demise of the so-called county party line — a system in which local political leaders give their preferred candidates favorable position on the primary ballot.
Democratic Rep. Andy Kim, who’s running for Menendez’s seat, and other Democrats brought a federal lawsuit challenging the practice as part of his campaign to oust Menendez, who has resigned since his conviction.