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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTrump Made Inaccurate Claims About the Military During His West Point Speech
President Trump oversold his administrations military record in a commencement speech at the United States Military Academy at West Point on Saturday. Heres 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, thats 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. Trumps 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.