Providing more nuanced detail than in the broad-brush rallies supporters have become accustomed to, Trump outlined proposals for an active army of around 540,000 troops, an air force of at least 1,200 fighter aircraft, a 36-battalion marine corps and a navy of 350 surface ships and submarines. While she’s articulated an anti-Islamic State plan that is more aggressive than Obama’s, she’s largely in line with the president on foreign policy. The Republican also said that, if elected, he would give military leaders 30 days to formulate a multipronged plan to defeat the Islamic State group.
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Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton confronted their key weaknesses in a televised national security forum.
Trump said at the forum that he’d be open to “working” a way for undocumented immigrants to serve in the USA military – a sharp contrast to his tone during a speech in Arizona last week where he said he would focus on deporting undocumented immigrants from the country.
The United States now spends more than $600 billion a year on the military, more than the next seven countries combined.
Trump and Clinton have been hammering one another over foreign affairs in the run-up to the event, each positioning the other as unfit to lead.
Clinton, meanwhile, has been raising questions about Trump’s temperament and capacity to lead, casting him as erratic and a danger to the nation’s safety.
Trump’s team has worked aggressively in recent days to turn deflect such criticism back at Clinton.
Donald Trump has been catching some heat for his characterization of his stance on the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Trump and Clinton won’t appear onstage at the same time – that won’t happen until the first presidential debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y. on September 26.
NBC will host the first presidential debate September 26.
As for how he would pay for it, Trump said Wednesday that he would fully offset the costs through savings and new revenue. Republicans and Democrats voted for the automatic, across-the board cuts that affected both military and domestic programs, though the White House has long pressed Congress to lift the spending limits. “We want to deter, avoid and prevent conflict through our unquestioned military strength”.
While Trump has often complained that US forces are not large enough or well-equipped, he’s also said that he’d save money by cutting waste and ensuring that contractors aren’t getting sweetheart deals due to their connections or lobbying efforts.
Lauer said Trump has complained that military commanders today have become too politically correct by the time they reach the top.
Trump cited his team of military advisers but also said he has “a common sense” that will help him make decisions on foreign policy.
Even before promising a huge boost in military spending, Trump’s plans to cut taxes, expand infrastructure spending and leave untouched entitlement programs such as Social Security already threaten to add trillions of dollars to the federal deficit. Trump has been bitten in the past by prominent former Republican military officials – most of whom come from the ranks of the two Bush administrations – who have thrown their support to Clinton. And for the first time, he opened the door to granting legal status to people living in the USA illegally who join the military.
But questions remain, even in his party.
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Answering a beauty-pageant question as to whether a President Hillary Clinton could guarantee people will be safer in four years than they are now, Clinton was again met with an impatient Lauer, who said, “We’ve got 30 seconds”.
