Can Trump rebuild the military as deficits balloon?

President Trump, clearly feeling some heat after the Treasury Department noted the national debt ballooned 17 percent to $779 billion this year, announced yesterday that the defense budget would drop to about $700 billion in fiscal 2020. Trump told his Cabinet this could happen, “because now that we have our military taken care of, we have our law enforcement taken care of, we can do things that we really weren’t in a position to do when I first came.” Now, we’re betting there are quite a few generals who’d be willing to advise the president that the military hasn’t entirely “been taken care of,” but the announcement is a clear signal that the budget trend is no longer upward. Dan Goure, now with the Lexington Institute, starts his analysis of defense spending by saying 2019’s budget is “a down payment” on a stronger, more ready military. Read on! The Editor.

Today’s national security leadership face a dilemma not unlike that which confronted the Western allies in the 1930s. Faced with growing great power threats in both Europe and Asia, they knew it was essential to build up their militaries. However, the ongoing effects of the Great Depression and bad economic policies caused them to hesitate when it came to increasing defense spending. As a result, France and Great Britain were ill-prepared when war came. Current U.S. defense leaders are warning that the same situation could occur again.