Trump budget plan to slash US foreign aid by 21 per cent, more cash to counter China
- Trump’s US$4.8 trillion plan includes US$740.5 billion for defence, including the creation of Space Force
- Budget blueprint would drop the Republicans’ long-term goal of eliminating the US deficit over the next 10 years
US President Donald Trump will propose on Monday a 21 per cent cut in foreign aid and slashes to social safety net programmes in his US$4.8 trillion budget proposal for the 2021 financial year, according to senior administration officials.
The budget will seek an increase in funds to counter developing economic threats from China and Russia, but will also raise funds by targeting US$2 trillion in savings from mandatory spending programmes in the United States. The budget assumes revenues of US$3.8 trillion.
Trump, a Republican, sought in his budget proposal last year to slash foreign aid but faced steep resistance from Congress and did not prevail.
The president’s latest blueprint for administration spending proposals is unlikely to be passed by the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives, particularly in an election year.
Trump, who campaigned for the presidency in 2016 on a promise to build a wall along the US border with Mexico, will seek US$2 billion in funding for further construction on that project, substantially less than the US$8.6 billion he requested a year ago. The administration shifted resources to the project from the military last year after Congress refused Trump’s request.