"Fifteen years of war and several years of budgetary dysfunction had left things frayed."īrad Bowman, a defense analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, credits the Trump administration with prioritizing military research and development with the largest budget increase ever, saying the Pentagon recognized the growing technological prowess of China and Russia as well as the changing character of warfare. "The increase in budgets, readiness levels and modernization efforts will be sort of like a 'mini Reagan period,' " O'Hanlon says. Michael O'Hanlon, a defense analyst at the Brookings Institution, acknowledged he is no "Trump fan," seeing him as "an extremely dangerous commander in chief" and citing his saber rattling and his threatening a war with North Korea.īut O'Hanlon sees Trump's overall legacy as relatively positive. "The backlash was thankfully great, so hopefully our institutions have emerged undamaged." "Trump's willingness to use the military against legitimate protests in America year stands out as particularly significant and damaging," says Carter Malkasian, a former senior Defense Department official. Months later, Esper was "terminated" by Trump in a tweet. Trump soured on Esper after that, and their relationship never survived. Trump also tested civilian-military relations by urging that active-duty troops be used to quell street protests following the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police last year.ĭefense Secretary Mark Esper strongly and publicly opposed such a move, saying it was a job for local police and possibly the National Guard. NATO members did end up paying more for their defense - for many years a source of official Washington grumbling - though there were fractures within the alliance over Trump's abrasive nature and abrupt decisions, such as withdrawing troops from Afghanistan without consulting NATO leaders. He provided a significant budget boost, made the troops more ready and created a U.S. He leaves a military that is still fighting and advising in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq and Yemen, though in smaller numbers. Still, Trump was unable to end those endless wars. A Military Times poll showed that 46% had a favorable view of him at the start of his term, 10 points higher than President Barack Obama had in January 2017. Among troops, he seemed to enjoy fairly strong support. That message resonated among voters and helped propel him to the White House in the 2016 election.
He vowed to bring "endless wars" to a close, "rebuild" the fighting forces and compel allies to pay their fair share, saying the U.S. 12.ĭonald Trump campaigned hard on military issues. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., on Dec. Surrounded by Army cadets, President Trump watches the Army-Navy football game at the U.S.
0 kommentar(er)
