US presidential election: Trump promises a “strong army” and an end to wars

He reiterates his campaign promise. Thursday, during a gala in his stronghold of Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, Donald Trump welcomed his sensational appointments of recent days to Health, Justice, Defense and to a commission for “governmental efficiency” entrusted to Elon Musk.

“We must return to a great country with low taxes and a strong army. We must take care of our armed forces. We’ve already done it, we’re going to have to do it again,” insisted the newly re-elected Republican, criticizing “the big chunk” represented by the approximately $1,000 billion in American spending in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2021. This colossal figure was given by President Joe Biden during the August 2021 military withdrawal.

“An impact on operations and morale”

The billionaire entrusted Elon Musk with proposing clear cuts of some $2,000 billion in federal government spending, with possible numerous cuts to senior positions at the Pentagon.

Asked about a risk of reducing the size of the most powerful army on the planet, the deputy spokesperson for Defense of the current Democratic administration, Sabrina Singh, recalled the blocking for months in 2023 by a Republican senator to Congress for the nomination of 425 military leaders. “A significant number of positions of generals and senior officers (were) pending (…) and people were thus occupying two, three positions at the same time: yes, this would have an impact on operations, on morale and on the ministry,” she warned.

But between now and the inauguration of Donald Trump on January 20, “(we will) do everything we can to ensure an orderly and calm transition,” she promised. “When the team of the next secretary (of Defense) is ready for this transition, we would like to ensure that they are ready to succeed,” added the spokesperson, without mentioning contacts between the minister and outgoing leader of the Pentagon, Lloyd Austin, and the one appointed by Donald Trump, Pete Hegseth.