
An a-10c thunderbolt ii at moody air force base. Image: dod
Congress has yet to approve the pentagon’s 2018 budget with a more than 10 percent increase, but it is still expected to rise by another $16 billion in 2019
Donald trump loves the guns and the military. He likes to threaten weapons superiority and give the military a freer hand in military interventions such as iraq, syria and afghanistan, which means less consideration for civilians. Militarily, trump again sees himself in confrontation with the rough powers of china and russia or with the rogue states of iran and north korea. So far, however, the u.S. President has not been able to celebrate any major military successes; the capture of raqqa had long been underway with the predominantly kurdish militias of the sdf when he took office.