Opinion

Donald Trump is again the urgent issue for allies

Critics label the Trump-Vance ticket as isolationist in foreign policy. But the pair actually wants American priorities reordered to take on China.

James CurranInternational editor

Jul 21, 2024 – 1.46pm

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Among the swirling currents of American politics, US allies are once more tossed about as corks on the ocean.

Donald Trump’s talk of higher tariffs and expensive insurance policies for Taiwan and NATO provoke new bouts of abandonment anxiety. At the Republican convention in Milwaukee last week, his vice presidential pick, Senator J.D. Vance, pronounced that there would be “no more free rides for nations that betray the generosity of the American taxpayer”. The US would “send our kids to war”, he said, “only when we must”.

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