{"id":9949,"date":"2018-12-03T16:17:27","date_gmt":"2018-12-03T16:17:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/12\/03\/trump-calls-us-defense-spending-crazy-pledging-talks-with-putin-and-xi\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:29:38","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:29:38","slug":"trump-calls-us-defense-spending-crazy-pledging-talks-with-putin-and-xi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/congress\/2018\/12\/03\/trump-calls-us-defense-spending-crazy-pledging-talks-with-putin-and-xi\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump calls US defense spending \u2018crazy,\u2019 pledges talks with Putin and Xi"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 President Donald Trump on Monday said he, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin would soon start talks to end what he called an uncontrollable arms race, calling U.S. defense spending \u201cCrazy!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am certain that, at some time in the future, President Xi and I, together with President Putin of Russia, will start talking about a meaningful halt to what has become a major and uncontrollable Arms Race,\u201d Trump said in an 8:30 a.m. tweet<\/a>. \u201cThe U.S. spent 716 Billion Dollars this year. Crazy!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While there\u2019s been no immediate statement from Russia or China to corroborate the idea of imminent talks, the tweet was interpreted as a turnaround for the U.S. president. Trump campaigned on rebuilding the military and won hard-fought national defense increases in 2018 ($700 billion) and 2019 ($716 billion), but now fueled speculation Trump is doubling down on plans to cut back in his fiscal 2020 budget request for the Pentagon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe seems to be suggesting the current level of defense spending is crazy, and the implication is he wants to reduce it and he wants to do it through negotiation with Russia and China,\u201d said Todd Harrison, a defense budget expert with the Center for Strategic and International Studies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The two chief drivers of our national defense spending have been Russia and China, and he is suggesting he wants to reduce our spending through talks with them. This is huge. This is new,\u201d Harrison added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another interpretation is that Trump \u2014 after announcing last month the U.S. would unilaterally \u201cterminate\u201d the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty \u2014 could be tweeting in an attempting to pressure Russia and China to renegotiate the pact, according to James Jay Carafano, an expert with the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump\u2019s withdrawal from the INF Treaty<\/a> has been fueled by the arguments<\/a> Moscow has developed and deployed a prohibited missile and that China, which is not a party to the pact, is gaining a military advantage in East Asia by deploying large numbers of treaty-noncompliant missiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRather than U.S. build-out an INF force, I am sure the administration would rather that Russia come into compliance and China also enter into an agreement,\u201d Carafano said. “If the U.S. did have to build out its INF, that would place additional burdens on the budget. I think Trump is signaling\/warning both if they don\u2019t come to the table they will face a U.S. arms buildup that they will have to match.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t