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Things got bizarre during NBC Nightly News on Monday when reporter Hallie Jackson seemed to suggest that President’s Donald Trump wealth somehow precluded him from increasing military spending. “The President who's talked plenty about his money now spending the taxpayers',” she chided while a clip of Trump talking about his money played, “In a new budget blueprint that's as much a political document as a financial one.”
“The White House today also revealed that President Trump plans to hike defense spending by 10 percent, or $54 billion, as part of his first budget proposal,” fretted anchor Lester Holt during the lead-in to Jackson’s ridiculous criticisms, “And it would put other federal agencies in line to absorb some potentially deep cuts.”
She played a clip of Trump proclaiming that the country was going to “start winning wars again,” and then appeared to whine about Trump’s vision as she explained what that entailed, “That means a lot more money on the military, a lot less almost everywhere else.” She listed some of the problems she saw with the President’s budget proposal as it stood:
President Trump wants to add $54 billion to beef up the Pentagon, intelligence agencies, and Homeland Security. And slash the same amount to agencies like the EPA and the State Department. … His new budget director emphasizes it's just an outline, but the cuts could mean less money for, say, arts programs or helping people in need overseas.