Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin

(107,111 posts)
Sun Jun 14, 2020, 07:52 PM Jun 2020

Trump Made Inaccurate Claims About the Military During His West Point Speech

President Trump oversold his administration’s military record in a commencement speech at the United States Military Academy at West Point on Saturday. Here’s a fact-check of his claims.

What Was Said

“To ensure you have the very best equipment and technology available, my administration has embarked on a colossal rebuilding of the American armed forces, a record like no other. After years of devastating budget cuts and a military that was totally depleted from these endless wars, we have invested over $2 trillion — trillion, that’s with a ‘T’ — in the most powerful fighting force by far on the planet Earth.”

This is misleading. The $2 trillion figure refers to the defense budgets for the past three fiscal years: $671 billion in 2018, $685 billion in 2019 and $713 billion in 2020. But Mr. Trump’s suggestion that the military was “depleted” when he entered office and had seldom received such a large amount of money is wrong.

Adjusted for inflation, the Pentagon operated with larger budgets every year from the 2007 fiscal year to 2012 fiscal year, peaking at $848 billion in 2008.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/factcheck/trump-made-inaccurate-claims-about-the-military-during-his-west-point-speech/ar-BB15rFOj?li=BBnb7Kz

Trump lie? Color me shocked.

3 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Trump Made Inaccurate Claims About the Military During His West Point Speech (Original Post) Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin Jun 2020 OP
And how much of that money went to wall building? Chainfire Jun 2020 #1
Didn't the pentagon dump 3 trillion in Iraq? 5X Jun 2020 #2
You mean he lied? What else is new? book_worm Jun 2020 #3
Latest Discussions»General Discussion»Trump Made Inaccurate Cla...