Pentagon hands Trump plan to defeat ISIS

White House to propose sharp hike for defence spending, cut in foreign aid

A PENTAGON-LED preliminary plan to defeat Islamic State has been delivered to the White House and US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis will brief senior administration officials later Monday, Defence Department spokesman Captain Jeff Davis said. He added that the it was the framework for a broader plan and looked at Islamic State around the world, not just Iraq and Syria.

Earlier in the day, the White House said President Donald Trump’s upcoming budget will propose a $54 billion increase in defence spending and impose corresponding cuts to domestic programmes and foreign aid.

The result is that Trump’s initial budget wouldn’t dent budget deficits projected to run about $500 billion.

Whitehouseofficialsoutlined theinformationduringacallwith reporters Monday given on condition of anonymity. Trump’s defence budget and spending levels will be revealed in a partial submission to Congress next month.

The increase of at least 10 percent for the Pentagon would fulfill a Trump campaign promise to build up the military. The senior budget official said there will be a large reduction in foreign aid and that most domestic agencies will have to absorb cuts. Trump said that “we’re going to make it easierforstatestoinvestininfrastructure” and that, overall, “we’re goingtodomorewithlessandmake the government lean and accountable to the people”.

Trump to sign new travel order tomorrow

Trump is expected to sign a new refugee and immigration executive order on Wednesday, one day after addressing lawmakers at a joint session of Congress. That’s according to a senior administration official.

Spokesman Sean Spicer said Trump was holding off “to make sure that when we execute this, it’s done in a manner that’s flawless.”