President Donald Trump on Friday promised a
historic buildup of America’s already vast
military, but said he hoped he would never
need to use it.
We are “putting in a massive budget request
for our beloved military and we will be
substantially upgrading all of our military,”
Trump told the Conservative Political Action
Conference (CPAC) just outside Washington,
“Offensive. Defensive. Everything. Bigger and
better and stronger than ever before. And
hopefully we’ll never have to use it,” he added.
Trump last month signed an executive order to
begin increasing the size of the US armed
forces, promising new aircraft, naval ships and
more resources for the Pentagon.
The order provided few specifics but Trump
made clear during last year’s campaign and in
recent weeks that he wants to enlarge the
ranks of the military and expand its fleets of
aircraft and ships.
Top brass from across the armed services in
recent weeks have decried staffing and
equipment shortcomings that pose a threat to
morale and operational readiness.
“Nobody’s going to mess with us, folks.
Nobody. It will be one of the greatest military
buildups in American history,” Trump said.
While campaigning, Trump frequently
lamented what he described as a depleted US
military and complained America no longer
wins wars.
“Nobody will dare question our military might
again,” he told the conservative conference.
“We believe in peace through strength. And
that’s what we will have.”
The US military is already by far the world’s
most powerful and most expensive. It has bases
spanning the globe, an annual budget of more
than $600 billion and about 1.3 million active
duty troops.
Military spending accounts for about 3.3
percent of America’s GDP and Republicans are
eager to spend billions more, though for now it
is unclear where the extra cash would come
from, especially if the Trump administration
cuts taxes.
