Ron DeSantis was a retired Navy officer who ran for a U.S. House Seat in Florida in 2012. He received the support of one the most prominent defense hawks in the Republican Party.
John Bolton was a former U.S. ambassador at the United Nations. He is known for his sharp elbows and pugilistic approach towards foreign policy. Impressed by DeSantis’ record and his comprehension of “the dangers that we face abroad”, Bolton would support his reelection bids up to $20,000.
DeSantis is now Florida’s governor, and a potential contender for the presidency. He has started to abandon the hawkish rhetoric which won Bolton over a decade ago and continued through his three terms as Congressman.
The most striking evidence was this Week. DeSantis stated that Ukraine’s protection is not in the U.S. national interest. This position aligns DeSantis with former President Donald Trump, who appears to be on a collision track for the Republican nomination in 2024.
Bolton, who is considering a bid to become president to stop another Trump term, said that he was disappointed with DeSantis’ position and that he is open to being called “flip-flopper”.
Bolton stated that Trump’s positions are “very evanescent.” You could be following Trump for another week by trying to mirror his words. Trump has a variety of attack strategies; flip-flopper seems to be his best option.
Bolton said that he couldn’t have followed all aspects of his Florida activities. “But, my impression, at least on national security matters as governor dealing with questions within this hemisphere — Cuban, Venezuela, Nicaragua — was that he was still on track.”
A spokesperson for DeSantis did not respond to a request for comment.
DeSantis responded to Carlson this Week. He invoked many “vital national interest,” including the rise of China. But he said that “becoming further involved in a territorial dispute between Ukraine, Russia, is not one of them.”
Trump, who is leading in most polls, but aware that the governor may be his strongest rival at the moment, noted that DeSantis had taken a harder line against Ukraine in the past. He voted in Congress for several defense bills which provided support for the U.S. intelligence and military.
Trump said this to reporters during his campaign in Iowa, which will host the first GOP presidential caucus. He was completely different. He will do whatever I ask.”
DeSantis was a Republican defense hawk who served as a member in Congress from 2013 to his resignation in 2018. This was during his campaign for governor. DeSantis was a strong supporter of Israel. He sponsored measures to recognize Jerusalem, the capital of Israel. He also supported U.S. sanctions against Iran. DeSantis was vocal in his criticism of the entry by then-President Barack Obama into a multilateral nuke deal, which Trump later abandoned.
DeSantis, a freshman lawmaker voted against Obama’s order to end the war on Afghanistan. DeSantis’s hawkishness was again displayed in 2016, when he voted to approve a resolution calling on Obama to provide Ukraine with “lethal defensive weapon systems to increase the ability of Ukraine to protect their sovereign territory against the continuing aggression of Russia.”
DeSantis supported spending bills and defense policy, but he disagreed with GOP colleagues on U.S. military interventions abroad, funding for a Cold-War-era nuclear weapon, and aid for nation-building. DeSantis was among the few Republicans who failed to block a non-binding amendment which supported Bashar Al-Assad’s removal from power in Syria. He also voted for the abolition of funds for B-61’s nuclear bomb and a reduction in infrastructure spending in Afghanistan.
In 2017, Trump was still in office, and DeSantis was a chairman of the House Foreign Affairs panel subcommittee. He was asking tough questions about the U.S. military mission in Afghanistan.
DeSantis stated that “Today after more than 16 year in Afghanistan, it’s not clear that things have improved” during a hearing with DeSantis, the special inspector general responsible for U.S. program oversight. Is Afghanistan at risk of becoming another terrorist’s paradise? Are we repeating the same mistakes? Do we have to end this Godforsaken place altogether? ISIS-K in Afghanistan is a dangerous ISIS affiliate that seeks to strike the U.S. homeland. How can we make this right? Or is it possible?
Other instances were where DeSantis, a hawkish politician, reacted to Trump’s isolationist tendencies or pushed back against them. After sponsoring a House resolution condemning the “political and social economic and humanitarian crises” under the control of the Venezuelan dictator, he called on Trump to “apply further pressure” in 2017. In the years that followed, Trump would express an interest to meet with Maduro.
DeSantis also referred to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as a “young and plump child” during a House foreign affairs committee hearing. He also met with State Department officials in 2017.
Together, DeSantis positions showed a worldview that encouraged the projection of American strength, especially in defense of allies, while allowing for limitations on the use that power.
Nikki Haley, another Republican hopeful, split with Trump this week. She mocked the Florida governor for “copying” the former president’s position on Ukraine and serving an “echo” and not a choice for voters.
Haley responded to Carlson’s question regarding Ukraine being vitally important to the U.S. by saying, “Unlike other anti American regimes,” It also threatens American allies. America will be better off with a Ukrainian victory over a Russian one, and avoiding a larger war.
DeSantis is the most-pollingalternative Trump in a GOP primaries that could see several stridently antiTrump candidates splitting votes. According to one Republican strategist, DeSantis must remove conservative votes from Trump, according to one potential candidate. It could be a good idea to appeal to the populist right regarding the Ukraine issue.
“DeSantis knows he cannot ride moderates to victory,” stated the strategist who requested anonymity to speak candidly. It’s a risky strategy. This will cause him to lose many people. Is this a way for him to get the people he needs to win against Trump?
DeSantis’ departure from these positions during an expected presidential campaign has drawn arrows from both rivals and boosters. The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board — a part of DeSantis friendly Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. criticised DeSantis for his “puzzling surrender” to Trumpian temptations of American retreat on Wednesday.
“Mr. “Mr. This could be a matter of character, rather than a policy issue. What is Ron DeSantis’ belief?
