{"id":76481,"date":"2018-08-13T20:12:40","date_gmt":"2018-08-13T20:12:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/08\/13\/space-force-and-midterms-share-stage-as-trump-signs-pentagon-policy-bill\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:43:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:43:17","slug":"space-force-and-midterms-share-stage-as-trump-signs-pentagon-policy-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2018\/08\/13\/space-force-and-midterms-share-stage-as-trump-signs-pentagon-policy-bill\/","title":{"rendered":"Space Force and midterms share stage as Trump signs Pentagon policy bill"},"content":{"rendered":"
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President Trump signed the annual defense spending bill at Fort Drum on Monday.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 U.S. President Donald Trump signed the $716 billion defense policy bill for fiscal 2019 into law at the Army\u2019s Fort Drum in New York on Monday \u2014 making personal pitches for Republican candidates and his controversial Space Force<\/a> proposal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At a giant ceremony in an aircraft hangar, Trump called out specifics in the National Defense Authorization Act<\/a>, such as the setting of military pay raise at 2.6 percent starting next January, its additions of 15,600 more troops to the armed services\u2019 overall end strength, and a laundry list of added aircraft and ship purchases above what the White House requested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLast year we secured a historic $700 billion to rebuild our military,\u201d Trump said. \u201cNext year<\/a> we have $716 billion to give you the finest planes and ships and tanks and missiles anywhere on Earth. Nobody makes them like we do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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President Donald Trump signs the John McCain National Defense Authorization Act for the Fiscal Year 2019, during a signing ceremony Monday, Aug. 13, 2018, in Fort Drum, N.Y. (AP Photo\/Hans Pennink)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Trump also gave his most articulated pitch to date for a new space-focused military service<\/a> and suggested the U.S. had lost its technological edge to rivals. Trump said specifically that China created a military space organization and broadly that other nations are developing technologies to disrupt communications, blind satellites and \u201cjam transmissions that threaten our battlefield operations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur foreign adversaries and competitors have already begun weaponizing space,\u201d Trump said. \u201cI\u2019ve seen things that you don\u2019t even want to see, what they\u2019re doing, and how advanced they are. We\u2019ll be catching them very shortly. … We will be so far ahead of them in a very short period of time, your head will spin.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump\u2019s visit to Fort Drum, home to the 10th Mountain Division, was marked by a military exercise that included artillery fire and rotary-wing aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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President Donald Trump and Maj. Gen. Walter Piatt view air assault exercises at Fort Drum, N.Y., Monday, Aug. 13, 2018, before a signing ceremony for a $716 billion defense policy bill named for Sen. John McCain. (AP Photo\/Carolyn Kaster)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA few moments ago, I witnessed your extraordinary capabilities firsthand during an artillery raid demonstration, so I\u2019d like to begin by applauding the 10th Mountain Division Combat Aviation Brigade, along with the Third Battalion, Sixth Field Artillery,\u201d he said. \u201cI hate to say this, but nobody stands a chance against you folks. Nobody stands a chance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vice President Mike Pence, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan attended the event \u2014 and more than a dozen uniformed soldiers flanked Trump as he signed the bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2019 NDAA is named for Senate Armed Services Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., who has been battling brain cancer at home since last year, but Trump did not mention McCain, a<\/a> repeated<\/a> critic<\/a> of his<\/a>. Trump also claimed credit for the bill\u2019s Pentagon spending boost, though it represents an increase over his budget request, hard won by McCain and Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe National Defense Authorization Act is the most significant investment in our military, and our war fighters in modern history, and I am very proud to be a big, big part of it. It was not very hard,\u201d Trump said. \u201cYou know, I went to Congress, I said let\u2019s do it, we got to do it. We\u2019re going to strengthen our military like never, ever before and that\u2019s what we did.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was Trump\u2019s first visit to upstate New York since becoming president. Fighting to maintain Republican control of the House, Trump is set to attend a fundraiser Monday for Republican Rep. Claudia Tenney, who is locked in a competitive race with her Democratic rival.<\/p>\n\n\n\t