Trump laments ‘crazy’ US defense spending & arms race with ‘rivals’ China & Russia

You may think the person bragging about how much money his policy is giving to the Pentagon would be the last person to complain about it. Think again. Donald Trump called this defense spending hike “crazy!”

Under the incumbent US president the country has made a sharp turn towards a more aggressive foreign policy. He reversed the Obama-era limitations on defense spending, pushing a multibillion hike in the military budget for FY2018 and FY2019 through Congress.

Trump’s administration also passed a number of key national security documents like the Nuclear Posture Review and the National Military Strategy, which stated that a confrontation with Russia and China are primary goals for the US military.

Yet, there is a critic in the White House, who apparently thinks little of these accomplishments, which the Trump administration showcases at every opportunity. His name is Donald Trump.

The US president unleashed a barrage of tweets on Monday, starting with describing his meeting with China’s President Xi Jinping at a G20 summit in Argentina as “an extraordinary one” and “a BIG leap forward”, and ending with an “I have a dream-esque” vision of Xi, Russia’s Vladimir Putin and himself ending an arms race.

This tweet however doesn’t seem to be a signal that the US may downsize its military to a scale that wouldn’t surpass ten other biggest defense spenders combined.

Too bad. Just think of what could be done if resources were freed up this way. The Mexican border wall. A moon base. National healthcare and paid maternity leave.

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