US President Donald Trump has approved the Defense Budget Act for 2020 - the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The signing ceremony was held at the Andrews military base in Maryland.
“The bill, which I will sign today, provides for the allocation of $ 738 billion - precisely billions - to finance defense needs in 2020. This is an absolute record, the largest amount of defense spending in the history of our country, ”said Trump.
The amount of financing laid down in the new budget turned out to be 3.1% more than last year, amounting to $ 716 billion. Thus, the trend continued, which began with the arrival of Trump in the White House. While under his predecessor, Barack Obama, defense spending has been consistently reduced as part of a policy to reduce the budget deficit, then in 2017, it began to grow. This Trump in his speech at the Andrews base set himself a merit.
“Before my assumption of office, the armed forces faced sharp and fatal budget cuts. Frankly, they were extremely exhausted. As a presidential candidate, I promised to abandon these destructive cuts and ensure that our armed forces retain undeniable superiority around the world. Now there is nobody, not a single country that has even come close to this level, ”Trump emphasized.
NDAA is not only the Pentagon budget. It takes into account expenses considered to be defense, which are passed through other departments, in particular, the Ministry of Energy, which is responsible for the production of nuclear weapons. Non-military measures of influence on foreign states that pursue, in the opinion of Washington, a policy hostile to the United States, are usually prescribed in a financial document.
Thus, the defense budget provides for sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 and Turkish Stream gas pipelines.
The purpose of the sanctions is to "minimize the ability of the government of the Russian Federation to use" these projects as a "tool of coercion and political influence." American pressure should also ensure that the work of Nord Stream 2 and Turkish Stream does not result in a “more than 25 percent reduction in Russian energy exports transit through existing pipelines in other countries - in particular Ukraine - relative to those volumes that on average per month passed through such pipelines in 2018. "
As the U.S. Treasury Department specifically explained, after Trump's signing of the NDAA, “all parties who knowingly sold, leased or leased vessels,” involved in the laying of pipes for Nord Stream 2 or Turkish Stream, “must ensure an immediate cessation of activity related to construction. " Exceptions are allowed only when an immediate shutdown can threaten an environmental disaster or threaten the safety of the ship or the lives of the crew.
In addition, the NDAA extended the embargo on direct military cooperation with Moscow, the US government is prohibited from recognizing Crimea as Russian territory and is ordered to monitor the Russian-Chinese military partnership.
The bill also expresses solidarity with protesters in Hong Kong and talks about the US intention to increase the combat readiness of Taiwan's troops and track China’s investment in the Arctic.
With a view to confrontation
According to experts, the defense budget for the year 2020 is significantly different from previous documents of this kind.
- US Armed Forces
- Flickr
- © The US Army
“The US military is entering a fundamentally new stage of development. This is evidenced by the NDAA. This military budget is aimed at preparing for the confrontation not with some non-state actors, terrorists or rebels in Syria and Afghanistan, with which America is now actually fighting, but with great powers, among which China and Russia stand out first of all. ” , - said Vladimir Batyuk, chief researcher at the US and Canada Institute, in an interview with RT.
This was most clearly manifested in the creation of the military-space forces, the expert said. This is the first US budget to spell out their existence as an independent branch of the armed forces.
HSE professor Alexander Domrin, in an interview with RT, also noted that the United States is now fully building its military budget in anticipation of confrontation with global global players. This is connected, on the one hand, with Bely’s common political line, at home, and on the other, with the presidential election campaign in the United States.
“Since Moscow and Beijing in the Trump administration have been identified as the main threats, then, accordingly, we need to confront them. And for this it is necessary to increase the military budget. It is necessary to create your own space troops as opposed to the Russian air forces. More needs to be spent on upgrading nuclear weapons. In a word, the statements made earlier dictate specific actions, ”says Domrin.
In addition, an increase in defense spending increases Trump's chances of re-election, the expert said. A new record military budget will help the US president enlist the support of millions of Americans related to the army and get help, including financial assistance, from military-industrial complex structures.
“Trump is well aware that, although the House of Representatives has declared impeachment for him, he will not be removed from office in any case. Accordingly, he goes to the polls in November next year, where he will be re-elected. But in order to win, he needs to play for the military-industrial complex, for the army, where republican sentiments are traditionally strong. You need to at least not quarrel with them, but at the very best financially nourish them. Therefore, Trump has secured a record military budget, ”says Domrin.
Against Russia
Significant expenses in the NDAA are provided for containing Russia - it is supposed to resist in a number of areas. $ 734 million is allocated in the budget as part of the so-called European containment initiative, a program that has existed since 2014, which provides for the strengthening of the presence of the US armed forces in Europe. A separate line is allocated $ 300 million for military assistance to Ukraine. This is $ 50 million more than last year.
- US troops in exercises
- Flickr
- © The US Army
Finally, the most unusual in this budget is the sanctions imposed for cooperation with Russia against the NATO country. Turkey is prohibited from transferring fifth-generation F-35 fighters due to Ankara’s acquisition of S-400 missile systems.
The deal itself, as indicated in the text of the budget, falls under the provisions of the law “On Countering Russian Influence in Europe and Eurasia”, respectively, may entail sanctions, as well as Turkey’s participation in the Turkish Stream project.
At the same time, the NDAA stipulates that the ban on the sale of F-35 can be lifted if Ankara refuses Russian weapons. To this end, the Minister of Defense and the Secretary of State will need to provide Congress with documents on the basis of which it can be concluded that Turkey gave “reliable guarantees of refusal to accept deliveries of Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems” or “no longer has the S-400 air defense system or what or any other equipment, materials, as well as personnel associated with the operation of the complex, ”and also provided“ reliable guarantees that it will not accept deliveries of S-400 air defense systems in the future. ”
According to Batiuk, such US pressure on a NATO member is “completely unprecedented” and runs counter to the interests of Ankara, which is unlikely to curtail its participation in projects beneficial to it.
It should be noted that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the local television channel TRT has already promised that his country will give a mirror answer if US sanctions are introduced.
However, according to Domrin, it is not worth talking about the fact that the two NATO allies will spoil their relations because of Russia.
“In the short term, Erdogan can ruin relations with Trump, which he has repeatedly demonstrated. In the long term, Turkey, as a member of NATO, will remain so. Ankara can maneuver against Washington, threatening to close the bases on its territory, but in the end will do nothing. Erdogan, being a competent statesman, will try to arrange relations with the United States, using close relations with Russia as a lever of pressure, ”says Domrin.
In general, the US budget's focus on confrontation with Russia indicates the importance of the Moscow factor in the foreign policy of the Trump administration.
“There was a peculiar statement that Russia is the second most important state in the world,” concludes Domrin.