TRUMP VOWS MILITARY BOOST
Donald Trump vowed to boost military spending by tens of billions of dollars on Wednesday, outlining plans for major increases in the number of active troops, Navy ships and submarines, and fighter planes as he works to convince skeptics he’s ready to lead the world’s most powerful military.
The Republican candidate for president, who has struggled at times to demonstrate a command of foreign policy, also said that if elected, he would give military leaders 30 days to formulate a plan to defeat ISIL.
And he would ask the joint chiefs of staff to conduct a review of the nation’s cyber defences to determine all vulnerabilities.
“We want to deter, avoid and prevent conflict through our un-questioned military strength ,” Trump declared in his speech in Philadelphia, just hours before appearing at a “commander- in- chief ” forum on NBC.
The appearances marked an intense, two-day focus on national security by Trump, who has offered tough rhetoric on America’s challenges abroad but few details.
The United States currently spends more than US$600 billion a year on the military, more than the next seven countries combined.
Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton has tried to paint the billionaire businessman as erratic, making the case that his disposition would be a major liability on the world stage.
For his part, Trump has tried to deflect such criticism back at Clinton. “She’s trigger- happy and very unstable,” he said of his Democratic opponent, calling her use of a private email server while secretary of state “reckless.”
Clinton and Trump spoke back- to- back but not faceto- face at the NBC forum. The candidates also took questions from an audience of veterans and active- duty troops gathered on the decommissioned USS Intrepid, which is now a floating museum in New York.
Clinton defended anew her handling of classified information as secretary of state, insisting she did not jeopardize national security by discussing the Obama administration’s drone program and other sensitive matters on a personal email account.
She also defended her support for U. S. military intervention in Libya, despite the chaos that has consumed that country since then. The Democratic candidate urged voters to weigh her readiness to be president not based on one decision but “on the totality of my record.”
Trump levied unusual criticism against America’s military leaders, saying the generals have been “reduced to rubble” during President Barack Obama’s administration. He also suggested he would shake up the military’s top ranks if he wins in November, saying there would probably be “different generals.”
Trump remained persistently vague about his plans for defeating ISIL, insisting he has a blueprint for taking on the terror group but saying he wants to remain “unpredictable.”
“I have a very substantial chance of winning,” he said. “If I win, I don’t want to broadcast to the enemy exactly what my plan is.”
By virtue of a coin flip, Clinton took the stage first. She drew an implicit cont rast with Trump when asked for the most important quality a commander-inchief must possess.
“Steadiness, an absolute rock steadiness, mixed with strength to make the hard decisions,” she said.
Clinton has spent much of the summer tr ying to paint Trump as ill- prepared to be commander- in- chief and too unpredictable to make decisions that put American service members in harm’s way. Her case has been bolstered by numerous Republican national security experts who have spoken out against their party’s nominee.