DeSantis Campaign Press Release - Ron DeSantis Will Put America's Interests First on the World Stage

Ron DeSantis' foreign policy approach will be to always do what is in the best interest of the American people – not the failed foreign policy establishment class.

• DeSantis has stated the number one foreign threat to America is China. He has also said Russia is also a malign actor and adversary.
• As a veteran, DeSantis opposes sending U.S. troops to Ukraine and has said it is time to bring the war to a "sustainable conclusion" with an enduring peace without rewarding Russia. DeSantis believes that Europe, especially Germany, must do more to ensure stability and security in their own backyard.
• DeSantis has said that Biden's failures of leadership emboldened Putin. The botched Afghanistan withdrawal in 2021 tragically demonstrated Biden's weakness. DeSantis will reverse Biden's policy of appeasement toward Iran, which has empowered Iran to support Russia's war in Ukraine.
• Democrats' Green New Deal agenda crushing American energy production has also empowered and enriched our adversaries, including Putin, whose economy is based on fossil fuel export. As President, DeSantis will unleash American energy production and make America energy dominant.

In a July 13 interview with influential Iowa conservative Steve Deace, who endorsed him, DeSantis explained how his military service has shaped his foreign policy views:

"I'm actually a product of the failures of our foreign policy in the sense that I served in the Iraq War... There was a lack of focus, it was a muddled mission. And I think if you look at the last several decades of US foreign policy intervention, you see a lot of action with no clear-cut successes."

"We've got to focus on what is in our interest as a country, the safety and security of the American people. We cannot be indulging gauzy concepts like, 'Oh, we're going to be fighting, you know, for democracy abroad.' Whenever, wherever we've done that, as a country going back to World War I, it hasn't worked out well. So anything we're engaged in, there's got to be a concrete objective that we need to achieve. And we've been lacking that across a lot of those."

"I believe President Reagan's approach was right: of peace through strength. ... the DC foreign policy elite has become hyper interventionist. They think that anything that's happening around the world requires the United States to stick our nose in it. You even had people with some of the recent instability in Russia, saying that the U.S. should be sticking its nose in that and try to propel some type of a change in regime. So that's not my position."

"We cannot have a blank check policy, where we're just funding interventions without end. What is the ultimate end game that we're looking to do?"

"To say that we should be adding countries like Ukraine into NATO, that's a non-starter for me because all you're doing is you're putting more obligations on us to be able to defend. Why would we want to do things that are going to make it more likely that we're going to get dragged into a war? So, the goal of our foreign policy is, should be, to maintain peace and security in the world. We want to deter conflict, we don't want to invite conflict."

In another recent interview, DeSantis answered a range of questions from Fox News' Bret Baier on Russia and Ukraine:

On resolving the conflict: "We need a sustainable peace in Europe. Without rewarding Putin's aggression. We don't want this to be an issue for the next 10, 20, 30, 40 years. Well, how do you get there? The Europeans need to do their fair share."

On U.S. interests and opportunity costs: "We have drawn down our ammunition to crisis levels, some of our weapons stocks, we have other contingencies we have to be worried about. So as President, I would prioritize the China threat ... I would also deal with issues in our own hemisphere, starting with our border."

On Biden's Green New Deal agenda: "[Biden's] energy policy has helped sustain Putin's war machine. We open up domestic energy, that's going to lower the price of oil and that's going to hurt Putin."

On Trump's promise to end the Russia-Ukraine war in 24 hours: "He also said that Mexico would pay for a border wall, and all these other things. So clearly, that's not going to happen. I think that you need to bring leverage to the table."

On negotiating with Putin:?"You have to be willing to negotiate with unsavory people, this world is not all peaches and cream. You've got to be very mindful of what you're walking into."

And in a September interview with Dave Rubin, DeSantis further explained his plan to put American interests first:

Anything we do should be in America's national interest. You don't subcontract out your national interest to other countries, and I don't think it's been in our interest to be sending money to pay pensions for Ukrainian bureaucrats and salaries for Ukrainian bureaucrats. So what I would do as president, I would use the leverage that we have available to us to bring the conflict to an end in a way that this isn't going to continue to be an issue for the next 50 or 60 years. I mean, just think with Biden, his energy policy is benefiting Russia. It's fueling their ability to wage war in the first place. It's benefiting Iran. He just gave Iran 6 billion dollars. What is Iran doing with that money? Partially, they're sending to Russia to help Russia. He wants us to be more dependent on China. They're obviously benefiting Russia. You can turn all of those leverage points on, but then also use the leverage that we have with our European allies. Say, 'Guys, this is your continent. When this thing comes in, let's bring this in for a landing.' And then you guys have to step up and meet your security obligations. And part of what animates that is, I think, our primary national security objective is to deter China. And if we want to do that, we're going to have to do a lot more to project hard power in the Indo-Pacific than we've been doing. I think Biden views the top challenge as Europe. I think he views China as a client, not as an adversary. I view China as an adversary, and I think they're the only ones in this world that could possibly compete with us on a global scale.