Today Donald Trump gave a prepared speech outlining his military policies, the audience was Philadelphia's Union League and the press. The Hill has a complete transcript of the text, if you'd like to see what he favors for our military.
Trump wants more ships, planes, and troops, and more anti-missile and cyber war capabilities. He plans to press NATO allies to spend the minimum 2% of their GDPs on defense, and ask three specific wealthy nations - Germany, Japan, and Saudi Arabia - to pony up for the defense we provide them.
I can see Trump telling other nations to choose to (a) hire us to defend them, (b) spend to build their own defense, or (c) do without in a dangerous world. It's about time somebody made that demand, too.
Defending Americans is the most important thing our national government does. Thus, a presidential candidate's views on defense and military preparedness are seriously important.
Trump's motto is "Peace through strength." It has worked for the Swiss for centuries. The idea is at least as old as Rome where Si vis pacem, para bellum meant "If you want peace, prepare for war."
