During his 2024 presidential campaign, Donald Trump repeatedly promised never to bring America into any more foreign wars and campaigned upon his pledge of being the candidate who would avoid such conflicts and pursue peace.
1. Statement at National Guard Association Conference, Detroit, Michigan, August 26, 2024:
Speaking at the 146th General Conference of the National Guard Association in Detroit, Trump contrasted his policies with those of the Biden-Harris administration in this way:
“We’re uniting forces to end the endless foreign wars. … It will be again peace through strength.”
2. Statement at Campaign Stop in Warren, Michigan:
At a campaign stop in Michigan in October 2024, Trump positioned himself as the “candidate of peace,” contrasting with Vice President Kamala Harris, whom he accused of supporting “endless wars”:
“If Kamala wins, only death and destruction await because she is the candidate of endless wars. I am the candidate of peace. I am peace.”
3. Campaign Rally, November 6, 2024:
“I’m not going to start a war, I’m going to stop the wars.”
4. Campaign Warnings about Harris Presidency:
Throughout his 2024 campaign, starting in 2023, Trump warned that a Harris presidency would lead to American involvement in foreign wars:
“When Kamala Harris took up the mantle for the Democrats, Trump warned his rallygoers that, if she was elected, their ‘sons and daughters will end up getting drafted to go fight for a war in a country that you’ve never heard of.’”
5. Trump’s Inauguration Speech, January 20, 2025:
“We will measure our success not only by the battles we win, but also by the wars that we never get into. My proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker and a unifier.”
Despite Trump’s campaign promises to avoid war, his decision to launch U.S. strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities on June 21, 2025, is a complete inversion from his anti-war rhetoric and the political platform upon which he was elected.
