Trump's VP Short List Highlights His Flirtations With Imperialism
Trump will pick his VP soon. Will he betray his base?
When Donald Trump ran for president in 2016, he positioned himself as an anti-imperialist populist disgusted with the Republican establishment's loyalty to the “Bush Doctrine” of military adventurism. Nevertheless, when Trump eventually became president, it became clear that he was more than happy to invite the most vicious imperialists from the Bush administration into his administration. Even people like John Bolton and Mike Pompeo, some of the most radical supporters of neoconservatism, were welcomed right into the fold. Donald Trump sold the American public “Pat Buchanan for the twenty-first century” but gave us “watered-down Bush” (the war criminal, not the beer) instead. With new reports of Trump's vice president short list becoming ever-present in the media, it is clear that Trump has not ceased his philandering with neoconservatism.
While, historically, some neoconservatives from the Trump years, like John Bolton, were eventually booted from the Trump administration and joined the swaths of establishment Republicans of the “Never Trump” variety, others were not. Mike Pompeo, for example, was made Secretary of State even when he disagreed with Trump on key foreign policy issues like the "Julian Assange question." On one hand, Trump himself claimed he would consider pardoning Assange if he is reelected in 2024, prior to Assange taking the recent plea deal with the Biden administration. On the other hand, Mike Pompeo was directly involved in talks of “abducting and even assassinating... Julian Assange.”
Trump's foreign policy actions further exemplify his inconsistency with his campaign promises. Trump, while claiming to be “America first,” gave in to the imperialists on numerous occasions, such as the illegal assassination of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani. This action, while probably the most memorable and blatantly “pro-war”, was not simply a unique blemish on an otherwise peaceful presidency. Despite his rhetoric of ending "endless wars," his administration escalated military involvement in a multitude of regions. For instance, Trump greatly increased illegal drone strikes in the Middle East in places like Yemen and Somalia compared to the Obama administration. The civilian casualties resulting from these strikes contradict his false anti-imperialist veneer and highlight the potential continuation of U.S. military adventurism under his leadership if he is elected again in 2024. Moreover, Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital and move the U.S. embassy there sparked international criticism and violence, further entangling the U.S. in Middle Eastern conflicts. It is not surprising that Zionist billionaires like Miriam Adelson, who was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Trump, are spending millions on trying to get Trump back into the Oval Office.
Because of Trump’s propensity to adopt neoconservative policies “when the rubber hits the road," I do not think that it is out of the question that Trump will pick a Bush-style Republican as his VP in the 2024 election. Numerous short lists also seem to support this possibility with interventionist politicians, such as Marco Rubio and Tim Scott, featured on many lists. Even the most paleolibertarian-minded hopefuls on Trump’s list are still useful idiots for military adventurism. For example, J.D. Vance (with whom I share a name but definitely not political opinions) has been a stalwart supporter of Israel’s murderous rampage in Gaza.
Ultimately, the choice to select a neoconservative VP would be disastrous for both Trump’s campaign and the American people. First, numerous figures on the populist right have already voiced their displeasure with warhawks and their policies. Two notable examples being Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens, who are both opposed to the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. Tucker Carlson even went so far as to say that if Trump picked neoconservative Nikki Haley as his VP in 2024, “I would not only not vote for that ticket, I would advocate against it as strongly as I could.” Tucker and Owens represent the sentiments of the isolationist majority in the Republican Party, which makes up over seventy percent of Republican voters, according to a 2023 poll by Civiqs Daily Tracking. Picking a pro-war VP would completely degrade the little credibility Donald Trump has as a “man of the people” amongst the Republican electorate. This could, in turn, hurt the lead he currently has over President Biden in the polls. Second, pro-war policies have drained the United States of human and monetary resources for decades. Recent wars have cost the lives of millions of people both directly and indirectly, as well as costing the United States eight trillion dollars.
To conclude, choosing a neoconservative VP would betray Trump's anti-imperialist rhetoric that won him support in 2016, alienate his base, and worsen the human and financial toll of military action on the U.S. As Trump navigates his 2024 campaign, his VP choice will reveal if he truly represents "America First" or if he will again succumb to the neoconservatives. Indeed, only time will tell if Donald Trump is truly married to imperialism or if it is nothing more than a temporary affair.
J.D. Hester is an American writer born and raised in Arizona. He has previously written for antiwar.com. You can find him on X, @JDH3ster. You can send him an email at josephdhester@gmail.com.