By John Ubaldi  “Ubaldi Reports”

With the 2020 presidential election less then eleven months away the various Democratic candidates have campaigned across the country touting their domestic priorities, unfortunately missing was any focus on national security, except they all agree that President Trump’s polices are bad for the country.

Whoever assumes the presidency in January 2021, will have to deal with the chaos in the Middle East, have to deal with an aggressive Russia, an expansionist China, turmoil in Latin America, this to name just a few of the many challenges that will await the next president.

With the presidential election campaign moving forward, other Democratic candidates national security vision were discussed and now we will focus on the latest entrant into the presidential race; former mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City.

Bloomberg’s Political Experience

If elected president, Bloomberg would be the second billionaire after President Trump to occupy the White House.  Unlike Trump who made his billions in real estate, Bloomberg created his wealth in technology and currently is the owner of Bloomberg News, but resigned his position as CEO to run for president.

In 2001, Bloomberg served as the Republican mayor of New York before becoming an independent in 2010.  It was only last year that Bloomberg decided against running but changed change his mind and has now changed his party affiliation and decided to run as a Democrat in the 2020 presidential contest.

Climate Change a Serious National Security Concern

Bloomberg like all Democrats running for president have made combating climate change a central tenant of their national security strategy and if elected president will commit the United States to rejoining the Paris Climate Accords.

The Paris Climate Accords is the controversial international environmental agreement the Trump administration pulled out of.

Bloomberg has stated that, if elected, he would make climate a top priority. The US would rejoin the Paris climate accord, the landmark 2015 global agreement on global warming targets. He has said he wants the US to create a clean energy economy and has vowed to create renewable energy jobs.

Opponents would counter this argument to Bloomberg’s climate change proposals by stating how would you would get China and India to reduce its own greenhouse gas admissions, as both countries are signatory to the agreement but both countries have failed miserably at the accords target levels.

Beijing in particular went out of its way to ensure that what was agreed upon would not impact their economy, knowing full well the west wanted an agreement so bad they were willing to agree to anything.

The questions remains, how would a Bloomberg administration get China and India to comply with the agreed upon environmental agreements since both are the largest emitters of greenhouse gases?

Bloomberg’s Campaign lacks Policy Details

Researching Bloomberg’s policy positions have proven difficult as his presidential campaign website is extremely thin on policy details and his campaign pronouncements are also devoid of specifics, especially national security.

On his campaign website that deals with foreign policy, Bloomberg states, “Crises cannot be predicted, but how leaders respond can. Unlike President Trump, a Bloomberg administration won’t act rashly in a crisis. It will think through the consequences of its actions, both immediate and long-term. And when Mike acts, he will do so just as Americans would hope – calmly, decisively and, above all, effectively.”

Opponents have raised numerous questions especially as it relates to international trade; on how would Bloomberg deal with China?  With the recent signing of the phase one trade agreement, how would Bloomberg approach phase two with China who still supports its various state owned businesses which place U.S. companies at a severe disadvantage?  Other issues remain with regard to trade such as reciprocal market access, cross-border data flows, and withdrawal of market-distorting subsidies, how would Bloomberg deal with these complex issues and others?

The question proponents would argue if Bloomberg puts pressure China, would he continue the trade tariffs imposed by President Trump or is he contemplating a far different strategy?

Bloomberg Iran Strategy Lacks Detail

The targeted killing of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, has again heightened tensions with Iran, and all Democrats running for president have criticized Trump’s Iran strategy especially the administration withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal.  All candidates have stated that they would return to the agreement if elected.

Bloomberg had been in opposition to the Iran nuclear deal but opposed how Trump unilaterally withdrew from the agreement in 2018, mentioning that it was “tantamount to giving Iran permission to re-launch its nuclear program.”

In a speech in Miami to launch his outreach to Jewish voters, the 2020 Democratic presidential candidate said he spoke out against the 2015 deal at the time because it should have done more to address Iran’s ballistic missile program and other concerns. But Trump shouldn’t have left the deal made with the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany because Iran is once again moving toward the development of a nuclear weapon after years of compliance, he said.

Those critical of the deal would disagree with Bloomberg many of the sites were never inspected or allowed to be inspected.

What is Bloomberg’s Stance on Iran Nuclear Deal?

Bloomberg has never stated if he would have the United States re-join the Iran nuclear agreement if elected.  “As president, I will work to make the strongest deal possible to constrain the Iranian regime’s aggression and territorial ambitions, and put an end to their nuclear program, because the world must never allow Iran to threaten Israel and the whole region with a nuclear attack,” Bloomberg said in his prepared remarks.

Questions remain what Bloomberg would do different from Trump, as he has been ambiguous about his polices except he wouldn’t do what Trump has pursued.

Maybe we will get more clarification from Bloomberg as the week’s progress, so far after two debates we still don’t have a definitive idea what his national security vision for the country is; maybe we will in the future?