Best Defense

Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

What’s up on the White House website: Trumpish promises on the U.S. military

I see that the Donald Trump White House has posted foreign policy and military messages on whitehouse.gov.

screen-shot-2017-01-20-at-1-03-12-pm
screen-shot-2017-01-20-at-1-03-12-pm

I see that the Donald Trump White House has posted foreign policy and military messages on whitehouse.gov.

I see that the Donald Trump White House has posted foreign policy and military messages on whitehouse.gov.

On the military stuff: “The Trump Administration will pursue the highest level of military readiness.”

He also wants “state of the art” missile defense. Plus “the best” medical care for both soldiers and vets. He says he will submit a new defense budget for that.

In the foreign policy statement, Trump says that he will expand the Navy and Air Force. That’s good news for Bath, Maine; Norfolk, Virginia; and Pascagoula, Mississippi.

Bottom line: All this is really expensive. Combine it with tax cuts and infrastructure spending, and you’ve got a recipe for roaring inflation, I suspect. No wonder money is fleeing the bond market for the relatively safety of stocks.

Image credit: Screenshot from whitehouse.gov

Thomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military from 1991 to 2008 for the Wall Street Journal and then the Washington Post. He can be reached at ricksblogcomment@gmail.com. Twitter: @tomricks1

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