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August 14, 2018

Trump Signs $716 Billion Military Spending Bill; Includes $21 Billion for Nuke Program
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President Trump has signed a record-setting $716 billion military
spending bill. That's a $82 billion increase over the current year.
President Trump signed it during a visit to Fort Drum in New York.

President Trump: "We got $700 billion. And next year, already approved,
we have $716 billion to give you the finest planes and ships and tanks
and missiles anywhere on Earth. Nobody makes them like we do. And very,
very far distant in this case. Jobs are very important in all cases, but
in this case, military might is more important than even jobs."

The bill includes over $21 billion for nuclear weapons programs,
including $65 million for a new submarine-launched, low-yield nuclear
weapon. The bill also allocates money for Trump's proposed military
parade. The official title of the defense spending bill is The John S.
Mc Cain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019. But
President Trump made no reference to Mc Cain, who has been a vocal
critic of the administration, during his remarks. In 2016 Trump said of
Mc Cain, "He's not a war hero. He's a war hero because he was captured.
I like people that weren't captured."


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