I've read several articles noting the support that Trump continues to have among veterans, despite his spoken disrespect of veterans and his not having ended the "forever wars" as promised by the end of his term as President. He apparently gets your/their support because he voices support for peace through strength and for bringing many troops home.
But is his approach likely to bring peace? Trump's basic approach to foreign conflicts is either to say, "it's your problem; you fight," or to flatter autocrats and, because he thinks they like him, the U.S. will then have nothing to fear from them and can let them do what they will.
That approach may in the short-term bring peace and bring many soldiers home, but in the long-term it is more likely to lead to escalating problems abroad with the resulting deployment of troops. Let's examine this with two specific examples.
Trump thinks that by flattering autocrats, who he amazingly admires (I guess because he would like to be one), he feels that he is developing a personal relationship with them that will result in their not doing anything against American interests, at least while he is in office. But when looking at his relationships with Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, and Xi Jinping, they have just played him for the fool that he is. Putin invaded the Ukraine, not because Trump was not in office, but because he felt that the US was no longer an implacable adversary given Trump's actions while in office. Kim Jong Un did not follow through on any potential agreements with Trump. And US relationships with China were bad during the Trump presidency, largely due to Trump's tariffs.
In Afghanistan, Trump's attitude of "it's your problem," led him to make an agreement with the Taliban that the US would pull out by a date certain. And Biden was forced to follow through on that commitment, resulting in a disaster which Trump is now blaming Biden for. For the people of Afghanistan, the actions of Trump throughout his presidency were not good. And while his agreement did result in bringing the troops home, it was not a positive mark on our international record.
As with all things, Trump will spin any situation to say that he did great, that he is brilliant. Even regarding his debate performance against Vice President Harris. He never takes any responsibility, never says he made a mistake (granted, this is true of many politicians). He is an inveterate liar.
If you're a veteran and thinking of voting for Trump, please check out the real truth about his record. You can't believe anything he says. During his term, he made the world more dangerous for the US, not safer.
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