One of the cornerstones of Trump’s campaign was that he was the candidate who would keep America safe. During debates, he hammered Clinton on the fact that ISIS had formed during her time as Secretary of State. Whether or not that’s true is up for debate, but Trump certainly had enough people to believe that it is true to get himself elected.
Much of Trump’s support came from those who believe that America is under attack by radical extremist terrorists. Trump has called our military “a disaster,” despite the U.S. already spending most of its annual budget on defense. An amount as large as $596 billion was spent on defense in 2015, more than the next seven countries combined, according to Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. So what is it that gives Trump, a man who has had five draft deferments, the idea that our military needs more money? His budget proposal has suggested an increase in military spending and a pay cut to dozens of other programs.
Samantha Moore / Art Director
It’s no surprise that the Environmental Protection Agency would be taking a 31 percent pay cut after Trump put a climate change-denier in charge of it, Scott Pruitt. Other agencies who would have a big decrease in funding include the Department of Justice, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Transportation and other developmental programs. Pretty much everything except for Veteran Affairs, Homeland Security and the Department of Defense are taking a pay cut.
One widespread criticism of Trump’s budget proposal was that it would cut Meals on Wheels, a service which provides food for elderly people who are unable to buy food for themselves.
According to an article in the Washington Post, most funding for Meals on Wheels comes from the Department of Health and Human Services, which would have its budget cut by 17.9 percent under Trump’s budget proposal. Director of the Office of Management and Budget Mick Mulvaney assured the public that Meals on Wheels would not be cut.
Whether Meals on Wheels is cut or not, this criticism is pointing out the general idea behind Trump’s budget proposal, that he is willing to sacrifice social and domestic programs to spend more on our military, which is already the richest in the world by far.
Some publications speculate that this budget proposal will cause some of Trump’s supporters to question their voting for him, or lose him some support. Interestingly, senior citizens are a group containing many Trump supporters. The question is, if you were a person who relied on Meals on Wheels for food and it was cut because of Trump’s budget, would you regret voting for him?
If we learned one thing from Trump’s campaign and presidency so far, it’s that there are certain members of his supporting crowd who will never stop believing in him. If there was something Trump could do to get them to stop, he would have found it by now.
Trump has made some of the most outrageous and controversial statements to ever come out of a president’s mouth, and yet his fans continue to cheer every time he says them. Trump’s approval rating has gone down since his inauguration, even dipping below 40 percent at one point, but he will always have at least some support in whatever he does.
So much of Trump’s votes came because of his promise to bring outsourced jobs back from overseas. Taking money away from places like the Department of Labor isn’t going to help him keep that promise. Trump would be wise to listen to his supporters and adjust his budget accordingly.
Elliot Weld can be contacted at eweld@kscequinox.com
