Stay updated on the latest election developments as Donald Trump and Kamala Harris campaign.
A notable incident occurred Monday involving Trump campaign staff and an official from Arlington National Cemetery over the issue of political photography on revered military grounds. This confrontation unfolds during a highly partisan climate where discussions about military service and former President Trump’s stance on it are intensifying.
The dispute at Section 60 of Arlington Cemetery, dedicated to those who have recently died in combat, highlights a significant challenge for Trump concerning his foreign policy approach. The 2024 presidential race between the former president and Vice President Harris is unique in that it is the first election in nearly 25 years to take place without an ongoing American ground conflict.
Trump’s emergence in the political arena in 2016 marked a departure from the traditional foreign policy views of both major parties, which favored U.S. involvement and intervention abroad. This included the military campaigns initiated by George W. Bush in Afghanistan and Iraq as well as Democratic efforts to intervene in conflicts like those in Kosovo, Bosnia, and Libya. In 2016, it was Trump, a Republican, advocating for an end to wars, while then-Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton was seen as embodying military interventionism due to her pro-invasion stance and assertive diplomacy.
Trump has sought to leverage the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan under the Biden administration to reinvigorate his critiques of “forever wars” that initially fueled his political ascent. He now issues warnings about an imminent “World War III,” pledges to bring an end to the conflict in Ukraine if reelected, and asserts that his connections with authoritarian leaders like Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong-un will create a more stable environment, allowing him to prioritize domestic peace.