Will The Defense Budget Boom Under A President Trump?

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump greets supporters at his election night rally in Manhattan, New York, U.S., November 9, 2016. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly - RTX2SQ1N

Bloomberg: Trump’s Defense Spending Hike Counts on a Reagan-Era Gimmick

* A fantasy,’ analyst says of finding enough waste to cut
* Contractors, investors buoyed by prospect of more spending

Defense contractors and investors are celebrating Donald Trump’s plan to boost weapons spending, but Pentagon budgeting experts say he’s counting on savings that won’t come true -- the old Washington saw of rooting out waste, fraud and abuse.

“It’s a fantasy,” Mackenzie Eaglen, a defense analyst with the conservative American Enterprise Institute who has briefed Trump’s advisers, said of the president-elect’s campaign pledge to finance a more robust military partly by slashing bureaucracy and duplication at the Pentagon.

“I tried several times to disabuse them of the notion that this could ever pay for even a fraction of Trump’s buildup costs,” she said.

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WNU Editor: This is not going to be as easy as he promised in the election campaign. If he can get the economy booming .... the increase in tax revenues will make this possible, If not .... budget deficits will become the norm .... which is something that I do not think his base wants. Donald Trump the candidate was also very critical of many expensive defense programs .... including the F-35. Will this mean cutbacks in these programs .... again .... we shall see.

Update: Speaking of U.S. budget deficits, here are some disturbing stats that would make a Trump defense budget increase difficult to manage .... National debt is growing faster than you think (Washington Examiner).