One The next president’s immediate challenge will be to contain the expanding war in the Middle East and broker a ceasefire to liberate the region. Hostages captured from Israel and held by militants Aid to Palestinians living in Gaza in conditions described by senior United Nations officials as “apocalyptic” is being increased.

Trump has generally called for an end to the war in Gaza but has not made a clear statement on the way to achieve this. He has privately offered support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his country’s attacks on Hamas and Hezbollah, telling him to “do what you have to do” in a recent call. “I don’t think a ceasefire (in Gaza) is his priority,” said James Carafano, a fellow at the right-wing think tank Heritage Foundation and who was on the first Trump administration’s presidential transition team, adding that Trump would probably turn to Iran, Hezbollah or Hamas. “There will be no restrictions on Israel’s response or threat to respond.”

Harris spoke powerfully about the suffering of Palestinians during the war. The Washington Post reported that if he wins, he will conduct a “full analysis” of US-Israel policy and that conditions for some aid to Israel may be on the table. But Israeli officials are divided on how much Harris will change President Joe Biden’s military support policy. If Harris wins, Israel will likely proceed “largely as it sees fit,” Brian Katulis, senior fellow for U.S. foreign policy at the Middle East Institute, told The Post.

Harris’ campaign said she would defend U.S. alliances, including the NATO military bloc, which she called “hard armor.” But European officials have dismissed Harris as a relative unknown who, despite serving as vice president for four years, may not have the same material and emotional commitment to NATO as Biden, who was born during World War II and has experience working with Russia as a U.S. They say they see it as. Senator during the Cold War.

Trump took a more hostile approach as head of the transatlantic military alliance, punishing its members for what he called their financial overreliance on the United States. He suggested during the campaign that he would encourage Russia to attack NATO countries that did not increase defense spending and that he might consider leaving the 75-year-old alliance originally designed to counter the Soviet Union.

European policymakers largely do not believe Trump will withdraw, but Trump’s former national security adviser John Bolton told The Post that he “never lost the desire to walk out.” But few think he will maintain the status quo, and NATO members have quietly turned to protecting the organization against Trump. In this regard, Trump called for a “fundamental reevaluation of NATO’s purpose and mission.”

Words Harris and Trump use when talking about this topic Climate change shows very different views: According to Harris, this is “an existential threat.” This is a “hoax,” according to Trump, who has long denied climate science.

Harris is committed to solving this problem through international cooperation, and experts expect Harris to take a number of climate actions with potential global impact. Harris supports the United States’ pledge to reduce planet-warming emissions by at least 50 percent by 2030 compared to 2005 levels. The landmark Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, passed with Harris’ tie-breaking vote, infused billions of dollars in federal funds to accelerate the green energy transition. “I expect the Harris administration to enact stronger emissions standards for passenger cars and heavy-duty vehicles such as trucks and buses, and to expand the electric vehicle charging network,” said Michael Gerrard, founder of Columbia University Sabin Center on Climate Change. .

Politicians trying to combat climate change globally fear such efforts could stall under the Trump administration. As president, he rolled back or eliminated more than 100 regulations intended to protect U.S. land, air, and water. Now he’s vowing to immediately reverse Biden’s dozens of environmental rules and policies and stop new ones from taking effect.

Trump also vowed to once again withdraw from the landmark Paris climate agreement, arguing that it places an unfair burden on the United States. His withdrawal from the agreement to reduce carbon emissions alarmed climate scientists and experts, and Biden rejoined after the 2020 election. “We’ll do it again,” Trump said in a recent TV interview.

“The strategic competition between the United States and China is poised to intensify regardless of who assumes the U.S. presidency in January 2025,” Ali Wyne, an expert on U.S.-China relations at the International Crisis Group, told The Post.

Trump has threatened to step up economic attacks on Beijing and is considering measures widely seen as likely to trigger a global trade war. He has publicly touted the idea of ​​imposing 10 to 20 percent tariffs on nearly all imports, and has also privately discussed significantly increased tariffs of up to 60 percent on Chinese imports.

Economists from both parties say this could cause major disruptions to the U.S. and global economies, far beyond the impact of the trade wars of Trump’s first term. Advocates of Trump’s approach say tariffs could help bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States, but some experts in the past have found they lead to net job losses.

Harris, who also sees Beijing as a strategic and economic threat to the United States, is expected to largely continue the policies of the Biden administration, which retained many of the protectionist measures from the Trump era and finalized regulations last month limiting U.S. investment in Chinese development. Use of technologies with military applications.

While Harris emphasizes that she is not seeking conflict with Beijing and has hit out at Trump for the cost of tariffs imposed on China during his time as president, her platform suggests she will go after what the US considers “China’s unfair trade practices.” .” This could include punitive measures such as tariffs, as well as investing in domestic manufacturing and alternative supply chains to reduce U.S. dependence on Chinese goods.

While Trump and his running mate, Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio, have expressed deep skepticism about continuing U.S. financial aid to Ukraine, Harris has pledged “unwavering” support to Kiev and met with President Volodymyr Zelensky a half-dozen times since then. Russia invaded in 2022.

Ukrainian officials told The Post they believe Harris would maintain the status quo if elected. But they increasingly complain that the White House is too cautious about preventing tensions with Russia from escalating, and that their demands for more powerful weapons and looser restrictions on their use are being delayed or rejected.

On the other hand, some in Zelensky’s government worry that Trump will pressure Ukraine to make territorial concessions (which they strongly oppose) and cause new divisions within Europe. Trump also boasted that he was able to resolve the conflict, which is now in its third year, “as president-elect before I take office on January 20.” He did not offer a detailed plan.

The Kremlin has been seemingly nonchalant about who it wants in the White House, but Russian state media has been overwhelmingly complimentary of Trump, citing a “very good relationship” with him. Russian President Vladimir Putin and may have spoken to him seven times since he left office.

Immigration was at the center of Trump’s campaign, as polls showed voters generally disapproved of the Biden administration’s handling of the Mexican border. He pursued aggressive policies to limit legal immigration in his first term, and his 2024 platform signaled that he would do so again. At the top of Trump’s campaign agenda is his promise to “carry out the largest deportation operation in American history.” US authorities do not have the capacity to round up and deport millions of immigrants, but Trump has said he will use National Guard troops.

The United States and Mexico, in particular, could feel “devastating impacts” as a result of mass deportations, according to a research paper written in part by the Center for North American Integration and Development at the University of California, Los Angeles. The article states that the two countries are “highly dependent on each other due to intense migration, remittances and trade relations.”

Harris’s immigration role for the Biden administration included increasing U.S. aid to Central America and discouraging potential migrants from that region from making the dangerous journey to the United States. Efforts to address the root causes of migration have been thwarted by an increase in illegal crossings at the southern border for much of his vice presidency. Harris has vowed to revive the push for a bipartisan border security bill that Trump opposes and Republicans undermined this year. The legislation would invest billions of dollars in border security, allow U.S. officials to suspend asylum proceedings when crossings increase and use technology to detect and stop fentanyl and other drugs.

Christian Shepherd, Loveday Morris, Steve Hendrix, Kate Brady, Anthony Faiola and Ellen Francis contributed to this report.