Trump defense plan would cost $150 billion
That’s only if other cuts and attrition fall into place.
Trump’s proposal, which appears to rely heavily on the recommendations of the Heritage Foundation’s 2016 Index of U.S. Military Strength, calls for:
Increasing the number of troops in the active Army from 475,000 to 540,000
Increasing the number of Marine battalions from 24 to 36
Increasing the number of navy ships from a planned 280 to 350
Increasing the number of Air Force fighter aircraft to at least 1,200
Instructing his generals to present a plan to defeat ISIS
Modernizing missile defense and cyber security[su_center_b]
In order to help make room for this new spending, Trump called for other countries (including Japan, Germany, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, and members of NATO) to take more responsibility for their own defense needs or reimburse the United States for some of what we provide. Perhaps more significantly, he also calls for repealing the defense sequester, which is scheduled to return in full in Fiscal Year (FY) 2018. The sequester cuts reduce the budget caps originally agreed upon in the Budget Control Act of 2011 by roughly $55 billion per year, and repealing them will cost roughly $450 billion through 2026 before interest.^
Donald Trump specifically calls for offsetting these new costs, stating that “[a]s part of removing the defense sequester, [he] will ask Congress to fully offset the costs of increased military spending. In the process, we will make government leaner and more responsive to the public.” He also outlines three major areas where he would generate savings to pay for his offsets – cutting unauthorized appropriations, reducing improper payments and underpaid taxes, and shrinking the federal workforce through attrition – though even generous estimates of these policies suggest they would only save about $300 billion over a decade. On net, this defense plan would cost $150 billion if additional offsets were not identified.
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