US President Donald Trump has finalized his first budget for the federal government, with a ten percent increase in military spending.
The $1.5 trillion budget proposal, which covers only a portion of the $3.8 trillion federal budget, is due to be submitted to Congress on Thursday for approval.
The blueprint has seen drastic spending cuts in the State Department, the Environmental Protection Agency, and other domestic programs as Trump seeks to boost military spending and make a down payment on US-Mexico border wall.
The budget plan will upend Washington with long-promised campaign targets like foreign aid, environmental programs and help for homeless veterans.
Trump's plan is already coming under attack from Democrats.
"It will prescribe drastic cuts in many of the programs and agencies that keep America safe, whether it's environmental programs, whether it is food safety, drug safety," said Kentucky Representative John Yarmuth.
The budget proposal includes the $54 billion boost for the military to finance combat operations abroad. Trump also wants Congress to approve $1.5 billion for the border wall with Mexico.
He has repeatedly promised that Mexico would pay for the wall; however, critics say US taxpayers will end up footing the bill. Trump’s proposed wall would be a series of walls and fences that could cost about $21 billion in total, according to a US government estimate.
“If our presidents would have gone to the beach for 15 years the Middle East would have been in better shape,” he said.
Building a wall on the US-Mexico border to stop the influx of refugees and undocumented migrants coming from Central and Latin America was a hallmark of Trump's presidential campaign.
During his election campaign, Trump has also repeatedly vowed to “make America great again.” He has pledged a "massive” increase in military spending, saying he will implement “the greatest military build-up in American history.”
According to analysts, Trump's mantra of “making America great again” means “making America’s military great again,” because he is “ more interested in the bald exercise of political, economic and military power.”
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