By: Aaron Mehta
WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump said Thursday that a strong military is “more important” than a balanced budget, signaling a willingness to use deficit spending to fund the Pentagon — a move that may fly in the face of his pick for the Office of Management and Budget.
Speaking to Fox News’ Sean Hannity Thursday night, Trump said “a balanced budget is fine. But sometimes, you have to fuel the well in order to really get the economy going. And we have to take care of our military. Our military is more important to me than a balanced budget because we'll get there with a balanced budget.”
Later in the interview, Trump repeated that statement, saying: “I want a balanced budget eventually. But I want to have a strong military. To me, that's much more important than anything.”
That position may create tensions with his OMB pick, Rep. Mick Mulvaney, R-S.C., a budget hawk who is expected to force fiscal discipline onto the Trump administration.
Since winning election in November, Trump has repeatedly promised to raise funding support for the US military. His plans include increasing the active-duty Army to 540,000 soldiers, the Navy to 350 ships, an Air Force fleet of 1,200 fighter aircraft and a Marine Corps with 36 battalions. He has also pledged a “state-of-the-art missile defense system” to modernize the Navy’s cruisers and to provide ballistic missile defense capabilities.
Almost immediately after the election, members of the fiscally conservative Tea Party Caucus in the House raised concerns about such spending plans. Mulvaney is seen as a leading voice from the tea party movement.
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