President Trump has signed a record-setting $716 billion military spending bill. That’s an $82 billion increase over the current year. President Trump signed it during a visit to Fort Drum in New York.
President Donald Trump: “We got $700 billion. And next year, already approved, we have $716 billion to give you the finest planes and ships and tanks and missiles anywhere on Earth. Nobody makes them like we do. And very, very far distant in this case—jobs are very important in all cases, but in this case, military might is more important than even jobs.”
The bill includes over $21 billion for nuclear weapons programs, including $65 million for a new submarine-launched, low-yield nuclear weapon. The bill also allocates money for Trump’s proposed military parade. The official title of the defense spending bill is the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019. But President Trump made no reference to McCain, who has been a vocal critic of the administration, during his remarks. In 2016, Trump said of McCain, “He’s not a war hero. He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren’t captured.”