“We
have spent nearly $2.5 trillion on completely rebuilding our military, which
was very badly depleted when I took office.”
— Trump
False.
The military was not “depleted” despite Trump’s insistence. (The claim appears
175 times in our Trump database of false or misleading claims.)
The
U.S. military budget had declined in the years before Trump took office as a
result of decreases in funding for Overseas Contingency Operations, as both the
wars in Iraq and Afghanistan came to a close, not because the military was
“very badly depleted.”
Adjusted
for inflation, the U.S. military budget under Trump lags some years during the
height of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Over
three fiscal years, the Trump administration and Congress have authorized $2.5
trillion in military spending. But the money is not all spent, only a portion
of it is destined for new equipment, and the equipment is not all built.
