RFK Jr. offers foreign policy views on Ukraine, Israel, vows to halve military spending

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pledged Wednesday that if elected president he would cut the military budget in half.

“I will insist [a] 50% reduction in military spending in my first four years in office, with more cuts to follow,” Kennedy said. “One way to keep the dollar strong is to keep the country strong. We can do this by redirecting our bloated military budget toward infrastructure, education and health and building our economy and building small businesses.”

Speaking a day before President Biden signed a security agreement With Ukraine, Kennedy told voters in Yorba Linda, California, that US foreign policy has been based on the “illusion” that American intervention abroad will defend democracy.

Quoting billion-dollar aid packages that were approved for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan, Kennedy said he wants to reduce defense spending to levels last seen under President Eisenhower. Taking advantage of Joseph Stalin’s death in 1953, Eisenhower believed he had an opportunity to avoid an arms war with Russia and thought that drastically cutting defense spending would help the cause. He avoided major conflicts, but the Cold War still intensified during his presidency.

Kennedy also blamed the US for the – in his opinion – escalation of conflicts abroad over the past few decades. He has previously said he no longer supports military aid to Ukraine, although he supports Israel, calling the Russia-Ukraine conflict a “war of choice” and the Israel-Hamas conflict a “moral war.”

“We created ISIS,” Kennedy told voters Wednesday night, referring to the brutal terrorist group that emerged from the remnants of Al Qaeda in Iraq and spread across the Middle East in 2014. “We brought four million immigrants to Europe and destabilized every Western democracy in Europe for generations.”

Kennedy suggested that the US take a page out of China’s book. He said the country has emerged as a global superpower by using its budget more effectively, investing in infrastructure and businesses in places like Africa and South America, rather than bolstering its military presence.

“They spent $8 trillion on bridges, roads, airports, schools and hospitals,” Kennedy said. “Our eternal wars have made us enemies around the world – left us bankrupt at home. China’s investments, in contrast, have made friends around the world and brought it influence in every corner of the Earth.”

What is Kennedy’s position on Ukraine?

Kennedy rejected any U.S. involvement in Ukraine, including sending military aid, and told reporters at a Long Island campaign rally in late April that he blames Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for issuing a decree making him “illegal in Ukraine to negotiate with President Putin.”

“[Putin] He doesn’t know what dignity and honesty are. Therefore, we are ready for a dialogue with Russia, but with another president of Russia,” Zelenskyy said in October 2022, after Putin annexed four Ukrainian territorieswhich world leaders condemned as an illegal land grab.

In an interview with Pod of twins in early April, Kennedy appeared to praise the Russian leader for what, in his opinion, were the Russian leader’s pacifist intentions: “Putin said, ‘Look, I don’t want to go to Crimea. Let’s negotiate peace.'”

Two years ago, Putin undertook a invasion of Ukraine to prevent it from establishing common cause with Western democracies, thus posing a threat to its government in Russia.

Kennedy also repeated the Russian president’s claims that he undertook the invasion to keep NATO out of Ukraine and “denazify” the country.

Biden compared Putin’s invasion of Ukraine to Hitler’s Nazi forces invading other European nations. On Thursday, leaders of the Group of Seven countries agreed providing Ukraine with a $50 billion loan in the middle of the ongoing war.

What is Kennedy’s position on Israel?

Kennedy has been a strong supporter of Israel, frequently telling reporters that he believes Israel has the right to defend itself against Hamas following the massacre that occurred on October 7, 2023. Although the U.S. and Western powers have called for restraint of Israel in attacking the Gaza Strip, Kennedy said Reuters that a ceasefire would only allow Hamas to rearm.

Kennedy’s running mate, Nicole Shanahan, said she disagrees with the independent candidate on this front. Israel’s response to the Hamas attack is a topic that leads to a “heated debate” between the two, Shanahan said during a podcast last week with host Glenn Greenwald.

“And what I see now happening on the ground in Gaza is devastating. I think that, you know, there are arguments to be made that we are past the point of a ceasefire,” Shanahan said. “I think there are a lot of arguments to be made that Israel should show more restraint.”