Trump Proposes $54 Billion Defense Spending Hike

By Zachary Cohen

WASHINGTON, D.C. (CNN) -- President Donald Trump proposed a $54 billion increase in defense spending Thursday as promised, a plan that the White House says will provide the necessary funding to ramp up the fight against ISIS, improve troop readiness and build new ships and planes.

Released as part of Trump's $1.1 trillion budget outline for 2018, the 10% boost to the military comes at the expense of deep cuts to non-defense spending at the State Department, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Environmental Protection Agency and dozens of other federal programs.

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The President's request, which will raise spending for the Defense Department to $639 billion for 2018, aims to fulfill several of the promises he made on the campaign trail and early in his presidency, including efforts to "destroy" ISIS and increase the total number of ships in the US Navy fleet from 270 to 350.

"To keep America safe, we must provide the men and women of the United States military with the tools they need to prevent war -- if they must -- they have to fight and they only have to win," Trump told lawmakers, military brass and members of his Cabinet during his recent joint congressional address.

Military spending by the United States already totaled as much as the next seven nearest countries' military spending combined in 2014.

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