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The 2024 Republican presidential race could become a contest between isolationists and foreign policy hawks after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis sent his strongest signal yet he does not believe support for Ukraine is in the U.S. national interest, analysts, strategists and campaign aides said on Tuesday.
The war in Ukraine provides a new battleground for declared and as yet undeclared Republican 2024 hopefuls that could shape how the party engages with the world for years to come, those people said.
On the one side are former President Donald Trump and DeSantis, who is testing the waters for a White House run.
Although the governor has not yet officially declared himself a candidate, he and Trump are the clear front runners in the Republican race. Both have dismissed U.S. support for Ukraine and other allies as a waste of resources and said that leaders should pay more attention to issues at home.
On the other side, a slew of declared and likely Republican challengers – including former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley and Trump’s former Vice President Mike Pence – have portrayed themselves as steadfast defenders of Ukraine, willing to stand up to U.S. foes including Russia and China.
Caught in the middle is the Republican electorate, which is split on whether the U.S. should support Ukraine and how the nation should engage with the world more generally, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling.
Once the party of foreign policy “hawks,” Republicans have increasingly cooled on foreign entanglements and military support for allies, particularly after Trump took office in 2016.
