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Donald Trump Vows to Bolster Nation’s Military Capacities Donald Trump Vows to Bolster Nation’s Military Capacities
(about 2 hours later)
PHILADELPHIA — Lamenting the shrinking size of the United States military, Donald J. Trump warned Wednesday that adversaries were preparing to capitalize on perceptions of American weakness around the world and vowed to bolster the nation’s military capabilities, arguing that “without defense, we don’t have a country.” PHILADELPHIA — Lamenting the shrinking size of the United States military, Donald J. Trump warned Wednesday that America’s adversaries were preparing to capitalize on perceptions of American weakness around the world and vowed to bolster the nation’s military capabilities and defense spending.
“Our adversaries are chomping at the bit,” said Mr. Trump, the Republican presidential nominee. “We want to deter, avoid and prevent conflict through our unquestioned military strength.” “Our adversaries are chomping at the bit,” Mr. Trump said in a speech here at the Union League of Philadelphia. “We want to deter, avoid and prevent conflict through our unquestioned military strength.”
The speech, which Mr. Trump delivered at the Union League of Philadelphia with the aid of teleprompters, signified yet another effort by his campaign to refocus the Republican nominee on critiques of Hillary Clinton, his Democratic rival, and to demonstrate to voters that he can lay out detailed policy prescriptions to problems confronting the nation. The speech, which Mr. Trump delivered with the aid of teleprompters, signified yet another effort by his campaign to refocus the Republican nominee on critiques of Hillary Clinton, his Democratic rival, and to demonstrate to voters that he can lay out detailed policy prescriptions to problems confronting the nation.
The remarks came before Mr. Trump was to appear Wednesday night at a so-called commander in chief forum, televised from the Intrepid ship and maritime history museum in New York and focused on security and veterans issues. Mr. Trump is scheduled to be questioned after Mrs. Clinton. Espousing a foreign policy “tempered by realism,” Mr. Trump portrayed Mrs. Clinton, the former secretary of state, as unsuited to lead the nation’s armed forces.
Mr. Trump had previewed some of the broad outlines of Wednesday’s speech during a rally Tuesday night in Greenville, N.C. “Unlike my opponent, my foreign policy will emphasize diplomacy, not destruction,” Mr. Trump said. “Hillary Clinton’s legacy in Iraq, Libya, Syria has produced only turmoil and suffering and death.”
There, after promising to be guided by a “peace through strength” worldview, Mr. Trump said he planned to propose ending the caps on military spending, or sequester, that were imposed after the 2011 debt ceiling battle: “I will ask Congress to eliminate the sequester and immediately reinvest in our military,” he said. Describing Mrs. Clinton as “reckless” and “totally unfit to be our commander in chief,” Mr. Trump questioned her fitness for the Oval Office, turning the tables on a frequent line of attack from his Democratic rival.
On Wednesday, Mr. Trump proposed bolstering the size of the Army and the Marines, adding ships and submarines to the Navy and investing in new fighter planes for the Air Force. He said that the additional spending would be offset through “common sense reforms” in other areas of government and the paring down of military bureaucracy. “Sometimes it seemed like there wasn’t a country in the Middle East that Hillary Clinton didn’t want to invade, intervene in, or topple,” he said. “She’s trigger-happy and very unstable.”
Mr. Trump’s call is unlikely to gain traction in the nation’s capital. Republicans have long pushed for lifting the sequester for military spending — a proposal Democrats will consider only with comparable relief on the domestic spending side. Mr. Trump proposed bolstering the size of the Army and the Marine Corps, adding ships and submarines to the Navy, and investing in new fighter planes for the Air Force. He said he would end the caps on military spending, or sequester, that were imposed after the 2011 debt ceiling battle, adding that the additional spending would be offset through “common sense reforms” in other areas of government and by paring down military bureaucracy. But he did not offer specifics.
“As soon as I take office, I will ask Congress to fully eliminate the defense sequester and will submit a new budget to rebuild our military,” he said.
The Clinton campaign fought back after the speech by touting the endorsement of more retired generals and admirals, saying Mrs. Clinton had gotten greater support “than any non-incumbent Democrat due to her proven record of diplomacy and steady leadership on the world stage.”
Mr. Trump’s call for ending the sequester on military spending is unlikely to gain traction in the nation’s capital. Republicans have long pushed for lifting these limits — a proposal Democrats will consider only with comparable relief on the domestic spending side.
And on Tuesday night, in a sign of the likely stalemate, Senate Democrats filibustered a defense appropriations bill because it would have allowed for bursting through the caps on military spending without also doing the same for domestic spending.And on Tuesday night, in a sign of the likely stalemate, Senate Democrats filibustered a defense appropriations bill because it would have allowed for bursting through the caps on military spending without also doing the same for domestic spending.
In a foreign policy speech in April, Mr. Trump echoed the thrust of Wednesday’s address — offering an at times paradoxical approach of using fiery oratory to promise a military buildup and the immediate destruction of the Islamic State while also rejecting the nation-building that went on during George W. Bush’s administration. Mr. Trump’s remarks came before the Republican nominee was to appear Wednesday night at a so-called commander in chief forum, televised from the Intrepid ship and maritime history museum in New York and focused on security and veterans issues. Mr. Trump is scheduled to be questioned after Mrs. Clinton.
Mr. Trump also echoed other themes that he has used during his campaign, calling on allies to pay more for American military protection and accusing the Obama administration for agreeing to bad deals with Iran, which he warned was on the fast track to becoming a nuclear power. In a foreign policy speech in April, Mr. Trump offered much the same thrust as in Wednesday’s address — presenting an at times paradoxical approach of using fiery oratory to promise a military buildup and the immediate destruction of the Islamic State while also rejecting the nation-building and interventionist instincts of George W. Bush’s administration.
“Our president lied to us,” Mr. Trump said of President Obama. Mr. Trump also echoed other themes that he has used during his campaign, calling on allies to pay more for American military protection.
But Mr. Trump’s fiercest criticism was saved for Mrs. Clinton, his Democratic opponent. He accused her of being complicit in an array of foreign policy stumbles, and of deleting her emails as secretary of state to hide her participation in a “pay for play” scandal. He also rejected the questions that she has raised about his temperament, claiming that she is the one who is erratic. “Early in my term, I will also be requesting that all NATO nations promptly pay their bills,” he said. “Only five NATO countries, including the United States, are currently meeting their minimum requirements to spend 2 percent of G.D.P. on defense.”
“She’s trigger-happy and very unstable,” Mr. Trump said. “She’s totally unfit to be our commander in chief.” But Mr. Trump was otherwise vague on the specifics of how he would pay for his goal of building the Army to about 540,000 active troops; expanding the Navy to roughly 350 surface ships and submarines; and increasing the size of the Air Force to at least 1,200 fighter aircraft.
He said he would “make government leaner and more responsive to the public,” and suggested reducing the size of the federal government through “responsible workforce attrition.”
He also accused the Obama administration of agreeing to bad deals with Iran.
“Our president lied to us,” Mr. Trump said of President Obama, saying the nuclear deal with Iran put the country “on a path to nuclear weapons.”
But Mr. Trump’s fiercest criticism was saved for Mrs. Clinton. He accused her of being complicit in an array of foreign policy stumbles, and of deleting her emails as secretary of state to hide her participation in a “pay for play” scandal of granting access to Clinton Foundation donors. He also batted away the questions that she has raised about his temperament, claiming that she is the one who is erratic.
“She’s also reckless — so reckless, in fact, that she put her emails on an illegal server than our enemies could easily hack and probably have,” he said.
Noting that Mrs. Clinton has been in politics for decades, he added, “She doesn’t have a clue.”Noting that Mrs. Clinton has been in politics for decades, he added, “She doesn’t have a clue.”
Damning his rival with faux praise, Mr. Trump — in one of his speech’s biggest applause lines — also said that maybe Mrs. Clinton did, in fact, have at least some wisdom to impart.
“Hillary Clinton has taught us really how vulnerable we are in cyberhacking,” he said. “It’s probably the only thing that we’ve learned from Hillary Clinton.”