Critics slam cuts to foreign aid, big boost for Pentagon
Most senior military leaders said to believe it unwise to cut development aid and diplomacy funding
Washington
PRESIDENT Donald Trump's proposal to add US$54 billion to the Pentagon budget next year sounds huge at first - a 10 per cent increase for a department that already receives more of taxpayers' money than any other part of government.
But the outgoing Obama administration had forecast a US$35 billion increase for the Defense Department in fiscal year 2018, so Mr Trump's share of the proposed increase over and above that figure is US$19 billion, according to budget analysts.
Even so, the proposed Pentagon increase has been greeted with criticism from military spending hawks, in part because White Ho…
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