With great fanfare, but lacking fine details, President Donald Trump sent his budget to Congress last week, much of which closely mirrored what he said he would deliver when he was a contestant in the race for the White House.
On the campaign trail, candidate Trump promised, “We’re going to build our military bigger, better, stronger than ever before. Nobody is going to mess with us-that I can tell you.”
Following up at a rally in Kentucky on Monday, President Trump told the roaring crowd: “We are going to rebuild the United States military, finally. I proposed a budget that calls for one of the largest increases in defense spending history, and we need it, we need it.”
Trump said the increase in military spending would create jobs “because we are going to make this equipment right here in the US.”
However, while his proposals will increase defense spending by $54 billion, according to analysis by the New York Times, there have been at least 10 larger increases to the base defense budgets since 1977 than President Trump’s.
Where would the money come from?
Not from tax increases since Trump told the Louisville crowd, that “we are going to massively reduce your taxes,” while promising deep cuts in the corporate tax base as well.
The Pentagon windfall included in his $1.1 trillion spending plan envisions slashing many government programs, such as Health and Human Services, Education and Agriculture.
And with the ongoing “The Russians are Coming, The Russians are Coming” fear campaign that began during the 2016 presidential campaign and persists today, and military threats between North Korea and the United States heightening, building America’s military budget, which despite it being as large as the next seven largest military budgets around the world combined, will face minimal domestic opposition.
Indeed, the military-first mindset that has prevailed since George W. Bush launched the War on Terror in 2001, continues to evolve under Trump. Personnel from the military and defense companies fill cabinet and top administrative positions. And White House officials reported that Trump has shifted more authority over military operations to the Pentagon.
TREND FORECAST: The precise defense budget details of who among the military industrial complex will reap the most rewards, at this time, are few.
However, President Trump said he would increase today’s navel battle force from a 272-ship fleet to 350. And, the Defense Department has asked for more Apache helicopters, anti-submarine planes, fighter jets and $5.1 billion in its fight to defeat ISIS in Iraq, Yemen and Syria as well as more money for Afghanistan operations.
We also estimate more defense dollars funneling into Homeland Security and intelligence agencies, particularly for both domestic and foreign deep state surveillance and cyber security.
And, with the US ratcheting up its military spending, we forecast so too will other nations, thus increasing America’s foreign military arms exports which will greatly benefit its domestic defense contractors.