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The President’s Military Plans, At Home And Abroad

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President Trump wants a $54 billion jump in military spending.  We’ll look at that and the president’s plan to “obliterate” ISIS.

President Donald Trump arrives for a meeting of the National Governors Association at the White House in Washington. (Evan Vucci/AP)
President Donald Trump arrives for a meeting of the National Governors Association at the White House in Washington. (Evan Vucci/AP)

President Trump’s big push tonight? More money for the U.S. military. A lot more. Fifty-four billion dollars, to come out of diplomacy and domestic spending. The U.S. spends more on its military than the next seven biggest spenders combined. Not enough, says President Trump.  One-hundred twenty retired generals say less diplomacy means more fighting. The president says, beef up the brawn. This hour On Point, the Trump push to spend more on US arms, and what it means. — Tom Ashbrook

Guests

Kevin Baron, executive editor of DefenseOne. (@DefenseBaron)

Dakota Wood, senior research fellow for defense programs at the Heritage Foundation. Former Lt. Col in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Paul Scharre, senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security’s defense strategies and assessments program, where he is also the director of the Future of Warfare Initiative. Former employee in the Office of the Secretary of Defense and U.S. Army veteran. (@paul_scharre)

Ben Wedeman, senior international correspondent for CNN, based in Rome. (@bencnn)

From Tom’s Reading List

The Wall Street Journal: Donald Trump to Propose $54 Billion Increase in Military Spending -- "The budget will call for a $54 billion increase in defense funding with offsetting funding cuts for nondefense agencies, officials said. Those cuts could be spread across nondefense agencies and are likely to hit foreign-aid funding, officials said, reflecting Mr. Trump’s call for U.S. allies to pick up a greater share in global peacekeeping efforts."

DefenseOne: The Military Loves the Obama Doctrine. Can It Survive Trump? — "U.S. special operations commanders also reject the broad political rhetoric that Obama held them back in the ISIS fight. The only thing holding back anything is the pace of the indigenous force, some said. Yes, there are complaints about wartime movements and speed of tactics, but one commander dismissed that as expected for any military campaign. More arms may let locals take the next hill faster, but won’t much tip the balance if they’re not ready and trained."

CNN: Almost 2,400 Iraqis flee Mosul in 24 hours -- "In just 24 hours almost 2,400 Iraqi civilians fled western Mosul, where government forces are battling the Islamic state for control, officials said Sunday. The Minister of Displacement and Migration, Jasem Mohammed al-Jaff, said field operational personnel received the displaced people fleeing the fighting from about noon Saturday to about noon Sunday."

This program aired on February 28, 2017.

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