BRAVO! Trump Says He Wants to Cut Military Budget in Half
President says he'll try to get Russia and China to agree to similar terms so the money can be used on more productive projects
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U.S. President Donald Trump said last week that he would eventually like to see the Pentagon’s budget cut in half at some point and believes that it could be achieved if he can convince Russia and China to agree to cut their spending.
Trump admitted that these conversations may have to wait for things to “settle down.” Ukraine is still at war with Russia and Trump has angered Arab countries for his devotion to Israel’s land-steal in Gaza. This is not to mention the Taiwan issue that could heat up at any time.
But the fact that there is a sitting president who expressed interest in cutting the $895 billion budget offers a glimmer of hope.
Trump said he plans to meet with the Russians and Chinese to discuss the initiative. He said his argument will be that there is “no reason for us to be spending almost $1 trillion on the military… and I’m going to say we can spend this on other things.”
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China and Russia combined do not spend nearly as much as the U.S. does on their military. Beijing’s budget is just below $185 billion and Russia’s is $145.9 billion.
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Trump also told reporters that he would like to see the number of nuclear weapons reduced.
“There’s no reason for us to be building brand new nuclear weapons,” Trump said, according to The New York Times. “We already have so many you can destroy the world 50 times over, 100 times over.”
The paper noted that Guo Jiakun, a spokesman for China’s foreign ministry, said Beijing has much fewer nukes than the U.S. and Russia, so it should be the major players who cut first. Guo also said Trump should lead the way with budget cuts for the U.S. military, given that it is – by far – the biggest spender.
The Times noted that China has about 600 nukes and will likely field an arsenal of about 1,000 by 2030. The U.S. and Russia both have more than 5,000.
Trump told reporters at the White House that he spoke with Putin and he agrees that there needs to be fewer nukes. Trump said the Russian leader agreed to take a look at the matter in a “very big way.”
Trump expressed optimism that these leaders will agree to cutting their military budgets.
“One of the first meetings I want to have is with President Xi [Jinping] of China and President [Vladimir] Putin of Russia, and I want to say, ‘Let’s cut our military budget in half.’ And we can do that, and I think we’ll be able to do that,” Trump said, according to AntiWar.com.
Trump indicated last week that Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) will eventually look into the Defense Department’s budget.
Fortune reported that major defense stocks like Northrop Grumman and Lockheed saw their shares slide after Trump’s comments.
TRENDPOST: It is worth noting that Dwight D. Eisenhower warned Americans about the risk of a permanent military-industrial complex during his farewell address on 17 January 1961.