Trump complains about cost of ‘uncontrollable’ arms race

By LOLITA C. BALDOR
December 3, 2018

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump complained Monday about how much the U.S. spends on weapons in an “uncontrollable” arms race with Russia and China, though he vastly overstated how much is spent on actual weapons, even under a budget his administration has increased.

The president said in a tweet that the U.S. has spent $716 billion this year, an amount he called “Crazy!” He said he expects to discuss the issue with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“I am certain that, at some time in the future, President Xi and I, together with President Putin of Russia, will start talking about a meaningful halt to what has become a major and uncontrollable Arms Race,” he said on Twitter.

His statement appeared to confuse the total Defense Department budget with America’s investment in the nation’s missile defense systems and the strategic nuclear weapons usually associated with the arms race.

The Pentagon’s budget for 2019 totals about $716 billion, but that includes everything from health care and pay for service members to the costs of the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. The arms race is just a fraction of that amount, totaling about $10 billion this year for a wide range of missile defense and nuclear weapons programs.

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