By: Leena Sen
As election season reaches its peak, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump recently announced that he plans to expand all areas of the US military, should he win the 2016 election.
In his plans, he stated that within his first 30 days in the White House, he wants US generals to develop a plan to defeat the Islamic State (IS). In explaining his undying support for across-the-board increases in military spending, Trump utilized phrases that were favorites of a former US president – Ronald Reagan – by emphasizing “peace through strength”. He summarized his approach to foreign policy: “I am proposing a new foreign policy focused on advancing America’s core national interests, promoting regional stability, and producing an easing of tensions in the world. This will require rethinking the failed policies.”
Trump’s plan would be funded by collecting uncollected taxes and trimming the federal workforce. He also called for US Nato allies to spend two percent of their national income on defense.
Trump’s speech suggests that he is trying to go in the same direction Reagan had once gone- drawing attention to the military to make voters feel more secure- a strategy Reagan had used in the 1980s to garner support. Trump’s ability as a commander-in-chief has been disputed by both Democrats and Republicans; he has also made direct attacks at Hillary Clinton’s ability as commander-in-chief, calling her “trigger-happy and very unstable”. Likewise, she stressed that voters see him as a “danger and a risk”.
Despite his supposed strategy to garner support for the military in his campaign, Trump has drawn negative attention from military members as well, including an ordeal with the family of a Muslim-American soldier who was killed in the Iraq War, and with veterans and families of military members killed in action who protested outside Trump Tower.
