Trump’s “Skinny Budget” Would Fatten the Military

President Donald Trump released his $1.5 trillion budget on Thursday, a blueprint that would boost military and border security spending as it makes deep funding cuts to United States diplomacy and foreign aid that experts say could harm national security.

Trump’s 2018 proposal calls for a $54 billion increase for defense, offset by cuts across many agencies — notably a massive 28 percent reduction for the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development. Trump’s budget proposal is unlikely to move forward in Congress, where it has drawn criticism across both sides of the aisle.

“The Cipher Brief has become the most popular outlet for former intelligence officers; no media outlet is even a close second to The Cipher Brief in terms of the number of articles published by formers.” —Sept. 2018, Studies in Intelligence, Vol. 62

Access all of The Cipher Brief’s national security-focused expert insight by becoming a Cipher Brief Subscriber+ Member.

Subscriber+


Related Articles

How Safe Would We Be Without Section 702?

SUBSCRIBER+EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW — A provision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that has generated controversy around fears of the potential for abuse has proven to be crucial […] More

Search

Close