Salesman in chief Trump has a deal on drones for allies

WASHINGTON – President Trump loosened U.S. policy on arms sales to foreign governments Thursday in an effort to sell more American-made military equipment to allies.

At the top of that sales list: U.S.-made military drones, which defense contractors will be able to sell directly to foreign governments without going through the Pentagon.

At a meeting Wednesday with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Trump promised to streamline the sale of military equipment to allies. Throughout his presidency, he has rarely met with an ally without touting U.S. arms, which he calls “the best in the world by far.”

Trump said arms sales too often are held up by red tape. “It would be, in some cases, years before orders would take place because of bureaucracy with Department of Defense, State Department. We are short-circuiting that. It’s now going to be a matter of days,” he said Wednesday.

Using a form of executive order for national security, Trump instructed the State Department to come up with a plan to speed up those sales within 60 days. In a separate classified order, Trump lifted President Obama’s 2015 ban on the direct sale of military drones to foreign governments.

Trump’s trade adviser, Peter Navarro, called the ban “myopic,” saying it put the United States at risk of losing an advantage against global competitors — especially the Chinese. He cited China’s Wing Loong II drone, which he called “a clear knockoff ” of the Reaper drone — also known as a Predator B — made by San Diego-based defense contractor General Atomics.

“The fact is our allies and partners want to buy American. They know American industries produce the most technologically sophisticated, accurate and effective defense systems in the world,” Navarro said.

Critics said the policy will allow the sale of drones to countries that may not have the same safeguards in protecting civilian casualties from drone strikes. “The document itself talks a lot about economics and jobs and the defense industrial base. There’s a couple of paragraphs about human rights, but it’s a low bar,” said William Hartung of the Center for International Policy, author of Prophets of War: Lockheed Martin and the Making of the Military-Industrial Complex.

“Arms sales should be about security, not about promoting jobs,” he said.

PABLO MARTINEZ MONSIVAIS/AP President Trump says arms sales are too often mired in bureaucracy. “We are short-circuiting that,” he says.