Trump vows military build-up, hammers nationalist themes

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Trump’s proposed budget for this year “will be very clear” on how to fund the military spending increase.

Just like how Trump was going to be very clear on his plan to defeat ISIS? Hmmm... I wonder where that went.

He said his main beef was the media’s use of anonymous sources. “They shouldn’t be allowed to use sources unless they use somebody’s name. Let their name be out there,” Trump said.

But Trump and his Republican lapdogs have no problem with anonymous sources when they benefit the administration's aims.

He offered few specifics on any initiatives,

In this regard he's showing great consistency.

Trump will have to fight to get higher military spending through Congress.

I doubt this will be much of a fight. The military industries have contributed enough to members of Congress that most budget requests will sail on through with minimal opposition. Trump's the warmongerer's champion!

Trump also heaped criticism on what he called purveyors of “fake news,”

That's rich coming from the man who pushed the Obama birther issue, 'saw' thousands of Muslims in New Jersy celebrating 9/11 and pushed so many other fake news stories. Remember, Bannon, a fake news maestro, is his far-right hand man. (Boss?)

People who support Trump in his attack on media, anyone who believes the media should be repressed and ONLY permitted to report things the way Trump and Bannon want them reported has crossed a line and is opening the door even wider for an even more repressive state. But then Putin's said to be his role model; I guess that's to be expected. http://www.latimes.com/politics/washington/la-na-essential-washington-updates-after-trump-calls-fake-news-enemy-of-1487963297-htmlstory.html

Russians and uber-rightists must be happy watching Trump and Bannon tear apart institutions. But that's what Trump supporters have wanted all along, isn't it.

Once a leader tells you the media is the enemy and he is the source of truth, you have a dictator. How could a nation with the greatest academic institutions in the world, brilliant minds and extraordinary research centers have elected a demagogue and ignoramus to the WH? The future of the international world order in on the line.

Burning BushFEB. 25, 2017 - 07:42AM JST

All those bases will be closed and troops withdrawn and money spent building bases in America, ostensibly to defend America from Mexico.

Good move.

You foresee the Mexican army launching an invasion, then?

@brbush His plan is to bring the sprawling military home

I would be happy if that's the case, but it goes against what Nashi bots have been saying about the US joining forces to fight terrorism. Which is it? Does Russia want the US to bring its troops home, or does it want US troops to help Russia take resources from other countries? Afghanistan?

ostensibly to defend America from Mexico

Are you trying to weaken your argument by saying this?

Deficits only count when Republicans don't control the government.

How could a nation with the greatest academic institutions in the world, brilliant minds and extraordinary research centers have elected a demagogue and ignoramus to the WH?

Maybe they know something that you don't.

0

*Good| Bad

Burning BushFeb. 25, 2017 - 07:42AM JST

His plan is to bring the sprawling military home and build bases within the US. Philippines, Japan, Turkey, Italy, Germany, etc. All those bases will be closed and troops withdrawn and money spent building bases in America, ostensibly to defend America from Mexico.

Good move.*

As we've seen over the last 4 weeks, what's said by the Donald is reworded by just about every other person is his team. If he does actually get his way and make this happen, you'll have to accept the flip side - less political and economical sway in other countries affairs ...

You foresee the Mexican army launching an invasion, then?

No. Mexico is our friends (after they pay for the wall) and do a better job preventing everyone south of them getting through Mexico to jump the Rio Grande. Canada, Bahamas, Cuba, Haitians, Dominican Rep and the British VIs - those are the real threats!

Let their name be out there

All hail the Witch-hunter-in-Chief of the United States of Dystrumpia!

Buy Dystrumpian, Hire Dystrumpian, BE Dystrumpian!

Just like how Trump was going to be very clear on his plan to defeat ISIS? Hmmm... I wonder where that went.

Yo! He's been president for a month, not a year yet, give it time.

But Trump and his Republican lapdogs have no problem with anonymous sources when they benefit the administration's aims.

Every admin. has their anonymous sources, goes with the the territory.

People who support Trump in his attack on media, anyone who believes the media should be repressed and ONLY permitted to report things the way Trump and Bannon want them reported has crossed a line and is opening the door even wider for an even more repressive state.

I will say this the media should have unfettered access to the president, however, if the president feels that he isn't getting a fair shake, just don't call on those reporters don't want to be fair.

But then Putin's said to be his role model; I guess that's to be expected.

As if that's a crime, Obama's role model was Castro's, come on now....

Should jive well with their plans for lower taxes.

@ brbush I said ostensibly, do you know what that means?

You do know what fake news means, and you also know how easily influenced Trump's true believers are. It wouldn't surprise me to read some of the usual JT posters starting to echo this latest Nashi planted bit of fake news. Mexico invades, and next Trinidad and Tobago? Tuvalu?

Keep fear alive: that makes it easier for Trump and the Republicans to scare the hard of thinking into believing more money needs to be spent on the military. Why do Russians care so much about the US? Do you want to see Putin do to the US what Reagan and Bush 43 did to Russia and have the US spend itself into a Russian level sinkhole?

Burning Bush: to defend America from Mexico.

Mexico has the 2nd more powerful army in the world. They are known to have tried to purchase green paste from Guatemala. They have green paste factories here and there. They produce a delicious guacamole and minutes from launching an attack against the US. They need to be stopped right now. Terrorist agents (fruit pickers, gardners, housemaids) are sleeping cells. US population should be scared. Essentially, you are creating fake problems.

If you really think the US is going to withdraw from bases overseas, you are mistaken. You don't project power by withdrawing your bases.

Deficits only count when Republicans don't control the government

Absolutely. Billions for this and billions for that. It's hypocrisy, but also a matter of self-preservation for the suddenly spineless conservative flamethrowers afraid to oppose Trump and get voted out of office.

.

SuperLib: shhhh he has a wonderful plan, so great it is going to be beautiful and perfect.

Isolationism

Tax cuts

??????

Reduced deficit

I will say this the media should have unfettered access to the president,

read: I'll pay lip service to the principle, BUT:

however, if the president feels that he isn't getting a fair shake, just don't call on those reporters (who) don't want to be fair.

Trump Fan Club Only. All others slandered and excluded. Even Fox News is alarmed:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOAD0_Ito8E

Lügenpresse was repeated often enough for the people to swallow it.

Cognitive scientist George Lakoff explains the success of Trump's smoke and mirrors:

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/tavissmiley/interviews/professor-cognitive-science-george-lakoff/

Which evil people are to be bombed next ?

Trump used remarks to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), an organization that gave him one of his first platforms in his improbable journey to the U.S. presidency, to defend his unabashed “America first” policies.

Defend?

Nothing to defend Reuters, unless you're a globalist fake news hack.

Americans had better hope building up the military is not directed at them; to keep them in line once the grand plans of the rightist authoritarians start to unravel and become clear for what they are. All tinpot dictators like an army to keep their own people down. And Trump has "tinpot" written all over him.

TumbleDry:. Isolationism...tax cuts....??????....Reduced deficit

I think we should start asking how much damage they are willing to do to our standard of living in order to carry out this nationalistic view of America.

well as long as he keeps out the troublemakers!

"Defend?

Nothing to defend Reuters, unless you're a globalist fake news hack."

The usual themes - globalists and the MSM. I notice you didn't focus on the story itself and mention warmongers in this instance.

What do you think of this wish for a 'great' military build-up?

Military expenditures by nation 2016:

Rank / Country / Spending in billions of $ and percentage of GDP

World total 1,676.0

1 United States 596.0 3.3 2 China 215.0 1.9 3 Saudi Arabia 87.2 13.7 4 Russia 66.4 5.4 5 UK 55.5 2.0 6 India 51.3 2.3 7 France 50.9 2.1 8 Japan 40.9 1.0 9 Germany 39.4 1.2 10 South Korea 36.4 2.6

I'm no math whiz but it's almost like the US empire already spends a lot of coin.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_military_expenditures

Jcapan: do you think that Japan being a democracy has a little to do with the spending chart you cite?

Important to remember that Congress controls the purse strings, not POTUS, and while the GOP still holds majorities in both houses, they are both reduced from last year (not to mention Trump losing the popular vote). The budget battles of the Obama rears resulted in the Bipartisan Budget Act (BBA, commonly known as sequestration) of 2013, renewed in 2015, under which military and social spending move in lockstep - that is, both may either be raised or lowered, but one cannot be sacrificed for the other. Nobody likes it, but doing away with it would explode the fragile detente it has created.

Trump's remarks on Pentagon spending were probably foolish; it's an open secret that the Pentagon receives some $30 billion yearly over its cap by stretching the definition of the Overseas Contingency Fund (OCF) - monies outside that cap that are designed to only be used in case of war but are snatched up by the Pentagon to supplement general funding. Blowing up the BBA would put that OCF at risk as outraged Dems could refuse to continue the pretense.

The GOP is broadly split into Pentagon Hawks and Deficit Hawks, though there's much overlap (many would like the federal government to consist solely of a military and a post office). What is clear is that domestic political considerations prevent both having and eating the cake as it would entail cuts to very popular programs so historically drastic as to be untenable.

The ball is in the GOP congressional court, and Trump, with his constantly shifting priorities, is not making it easier for them; one possibility is that the GOP caucus will be pulled in so many directions at once that it will end up going nowhere. This is shaping up to be a wild spring and summer.

usual themes - globalists and the MSM. I notice you didn't focus on the story itself and mention warmongers in this instance.

A tiny reminder first, Hillary and Obama are proven warmongers.

What do you think of this wish for a 'great' military build-up?

Fair question. Pandering? Not very worried about it. Trumps not part of the hegemony crowd, the guy likes doing business. Trust me when I say if he goes all warmonger, I'll be the first to pull the plug.

Laguna, it will be interesting to see the response from the Freedom Caucus. Republican fiscal scorched earth nutjobs vs. a nutjob nationalistic President.

Super, the GOP congress has planned an extremely complex three-step to achieve its main goals of dismantling the ACA and passing tax reform (i.e., massive tax cuts for the rich). The latter cannot be done without canceling the taxes imposed by the ACA as this revenue would count as federal baseline revenue; eliminating it would give them more room to cut taxes on the rich without those cuts counted as increasing the deficit, so the ACA has to go first. Those are, though, only steps 2 and 3 because gutting the ACA can only be done by budget reconciliation, and for reconciliation to be used, Congress has to actually pass a budget resolution - the necessary first step - which cannot be done without at least 8 Dem Senators due to the filibuster.

Blowing up sequestration by inflating the Pentagon budget with corresponding cuts to domestic spending would be a no-go for Dems, making impossible the first step and, thus, also steps 2 and 3.

Trump does not seem to have learned the limits of the presidency. He will, though, and soon. (And, boy, will he be furious!)

a nutjob nationalistic President.

But I thought you guys on the left hate war and war mongers. If so, You should be a nationalist and Trump should be your man.

A tiny reminder first, Hillary and Obama are proven warmongers.

Obama is a proven non-warmonger. He didn't start any wars, he only finished them.

But either way, neither is in government anymore. So let's not deflect from the issue at hand by deflecting to them.

But I thought you guys on the left hate war and war mongers. If so, You should be a nationalist and Trump should be your man.

Please explain you 'logic' behind this.

Here, let's look at the precise words of the President of the United States instead of the version cleansed to make him appear to be coherent:

“I am the first one that would like to see everybody – nobody have nukes, but we’re never going to fall behind any country even if it’s a friendly country, we’re never going to fall behind on nuclear power. It would be wonderful, a dream would be that no country would have nukes, but if countries are going to have nukes, we’re going to be at the top of the pack.”

What is the deal? Why can't Republican presidents speak/think better than an 8th grader? Nixon was the last Republican who could talk, and look what happened to him.

Why can't Republican presidents speak/think better than an 8th grader?

Probably the same reason as many Republican voters can't. When thought processes are incoherent it is hard to elucidate them.

Well for years the people have been giving the president more powers, scuttling due process, and culling checks and balances. The people also wanted an outsider cause they were sick of the crap. Now we have a crazy outsider and the sore losers say he's a Nazi for using the powers they gave him.

Strangerland: Obama is a proven non-warmonger. He didn't start any wars, he only finished them.

Fizz has some kind of ties to Yemen or a surrounding country. His view of Obama and the military is defined exclusively by the conflict happening there.

Obama is a proven non-warmonger. He didn't start any wars, he only finished them.

I am an Obama man, but the fact is the world was in much more disarray eight years after Obama took office than when he entered office. Syria and Libya are in the messes they are in great part because of the actions and missteps Obamaj took while in office. It could also be argued that Saddam was fighting insurgents and Kurds before George W went in and that Afghanistan was already in a state of war before George W went in, but it was clearly George W's responsibility what happened after he took office, just as it was Obama's after he took office. Obama made things more chaotic in the Middle East. Unless I am remembering incorrectly Obama himself has said he made missteps with Syria and Libya and I respect him all the more for admitting it.

Would that Trump would be able to communicate that well.

So spending as much as the next 20 countries put together isn't enough ? How much will go to the veterans ?

Yes, because 600 billion military budget, more than all the countries of the world put together, is clearly not enough.

Crazy: "Once a leader tells you the media is the enemy and he is the source of truth, you have a dictator..."

Crazy, you must be unaware that Trump is considered to be more trustworthy than the mainstream media.

"... How could a nation with the greatest academic institutions in the world, brilliant minds and extraordinary research centers have elected a demagogue and ignoramus to the WH?"

We did no such thing. What we also didn't do, Crazy, was elect the biggest liar and most corrupt person ever to seek the WH, Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Where you going to get the money to pay for this stupidity Trump? Can't cut taxes and increase finances to military build up at the same time unless you destroy some other very necessary federal programs. He has such a bad habit of speaking before actually thinking. And his blind faith supporters take his word as, "As it is said, so shall it be!" instead of using critical thinking skills.

I've already heard some GOP members aren't going to support certain things that hurt the so called conservative ideal. Such as "fiscal responsibility", and spending less money instead of more.

How's he gonna pay for this?

Is he gonna make Japan, Germany, etc. pay for this? (places where there are US bases)

How much money will the US need to borrow from China to fund this ? Will China keep lending money if the US goes to war against them ? Silly I know but...