The current American leader, Donald Trump, criticized the decision of the US Senate to overcome the presidential veto of the country's defense budget (National Defense Authorization Act, NDAA).

“Our Republican Senate just missed the opportunity to get rid of Section 230 (Communications Decency Act -

RT

), which gives big tech companies unlimited power.

A shame!!!"

- wrote the head of the White House on his Twitter page.

Our Republican Senate just missed the opportunity to get rid of Section 230, which gives unlimited power to Big Tech companies.

Pathetic !!!

Now they want to give people ravaged by the China Virus $ 600, rather than the $ 2000 which they so desperately need.

Not fair, or smart!

- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 1, 2021

Earlier, the US Congress managed to overturn Trump's veto on the country's draft defense budget for fiscal 2021.

In the upper house 81 senators (out of 100) spoke in support of the document, 13 were against. Six people did not participate in the voting.

Overcoming the presidential veto required a two-thirds majority of legislators in the upper and lower houses of Congress.

Prior to that, a majority of the members of the House of Representatives had already cast their votes for the adoption of the draft United States defense budget.

As the Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi noted, the American Congress with an overwhelming majority of votes from both parties "gave a strong rebuff to President Trump's reckless encroachment on the military and national security of the United States."

“Instead of keeping Americans safe, Donald Trump continues to use his last moments as president to wreak havoc and undermine our security,” the politician said in a statement.

Pelosi also recalled that in three weeks the country will "host the inauguration of a president who respects" the US Armed Forces, "protects" American security interests and "honors the will of Congress."

Until then, Congress is calling on Trump to end the desperate and dangerous attempts to sabotage, she said.

On December 23, the American leader vetoed the draft military budget for fiscal 2021 approved by both chambers of Congress, calling it a "gift" for China and Russia.

“Unfortunately, this bill does not include critical national security measures, but contains provisions that undermine respect for our veterans and the history of our armed forces, and also contradicts the efforts of my administration to prioritize US interests in implementing national measures. security and foreign policy, "- said in a statement issued by Trump, released by the White House.

In addition, according to the American leader, the draft defense budget "does not make any significant changes" to paragraph 230 of the Law on Decency in the Field of Communications.

“Paragraph 230 promotes the spread of misinformation on the Internet by foreign actors, which poses a serious threat to our national security and the security of the electoral process.

It must be canceled, "the head of the White House stressed.

  • Donald Trump

  • © REUTERS / Dustin Chambers

Recall, according to this paragraph, technology companies cannot be held responsible for materials that are published on their sites.

Trump also believes that the draft defense budget imposes restrictions on the president's ability to ensure the security of the United States, "unduly cutting the amount of funds allocated for the construction of military facilities that can be used to respond to an emergency in the country."

"Numerous provisions of this bill directly contradict the foreign policy of my administration, in particular my efforts to return our servicemen to their homeland," the American leader said, stressing that "such a policy is not only vicious, but also unconstitutional."

Then Nancy Pelosi called Trump's refusal to sign the document "a manifestation of astounding recklessness."

Budget item

We will remind, the draft US defense budget for the 2021 fiscal year was approved by a majority vote in the Senate on December 11, earlier the document received the support of the House of Representatives.

According to the innovations, most of the defense budget ($ 635.5 billion out of more than $ 740 billion) will go to the basic needs of the US Department of Defense, including overseas operations and the improvement of American nuclear weapons.

The document also touches on the issue of the withdrawal of the United States military from Germany, Afghanistan and South Korea, it contains recommendations for a more thorough analysis before taking such measures.

The new defense budget also limits the funds allocated to the construction of the wall on the border with Mexico, and dictates the renaming of military bases named after leaders of the Confederate States.

The document also provides for tougher sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 and Turkish Stream gas pipelines, and also involves anti-Turkish restrictions on the purchase of Russian S-400 air defense systems.

Moreover, the defense budget notes that it is in the national security interests of the United States to "contain aggression against NATO allies" by Russia.

In addition, the document prescribes "to create opportunities for enhancing the potential of NATO member states in the field of countering Russian malicious influence."

"Not going to leave the political arena"

As Vladimir Vasiliev, chief researcher at the Institute of the USA and Canada of the Russian Academy of Sciences, noted in an interview with RT, the circumvention of the veto by Congress can be explained, among other things, by the fact that the defense budget is "a kind of sacred cow for the United States."

"He has been regularly approved by Congress for 60 years," the analyst said.

In turn, the expert of the International Institute for Humanitarian and Political Research, Vladimir Bruter, said that, when voting to bypass the veto on the defense budget, many congressmen "were not particularly guided by Trump's position."

"This also speaks of the strategy of the Republicans, who for the most part now prefer not to look back at the opinion of the head of the White House, whose term of office will soon expire," the analyst added in a conversation with RT.

  • White House, Washington

  • © REUTERS / Joshua Roberts

According to Vladimir Batyuk, head of the Center for Political-Military Studies at the Institute for the United States and Canada of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the overcoming of the veto by the Congress "speaks volumes about the fact that many Republicans, including the majority in the Senate, have already decided for themselves that Trump has lost."

"In the Republican Party, many have probably already come to a decision that in the upcoming presidential elections in four years, they will rely not on Trump, but on someone else," Batiuk noted in a commentary on RT.

Vasiliev believes that the head of the White House "perfectly understood all these nuances, in particular the fact that Democrats and Republicans will overcome his veto," but it was important for him "to split the ranks of the Republican Party before the inauguration of Joe Biden."

“Trump has generally achieved his tactical goals.

A fairly influential group of seven Republican senators voted against overcoming the presidential veto, which may also object at a joint meeting on approving the results of the electoral vote on January 6.

All this Trump will back up with a rally, at which he has already promised to provide evidence of rigging the results of the presidential election.

It is in these conditions that a split among Republicans can really create additional leverage on representatives of the Republican Party in the US Congress, ”the analyst said.

As Vasiliev noted, Trump by all his actions "demonstrates that he will fight to the end, including with the Republicans, who actually betrayed him."

“Everything indicates that Trump is not going to leave the political arena.

He would still like to be the voice that his supporters listen to.

By his statements about the inadmissibility of renaming military bases, the need to cancel paragraph 230 of the law "On the observance of decency in the field of communications", to carry out the withdrawal of American troops from abroad, Trump wants to show that he cares about the interests of the Americans, "the expert said.

At the same time, the latest statement of Pelosi "with new attacks on Trump is evidence that after the end of the election campaign, the confrontation between the Democrats and Trump has not ended and will continue in the foreseeable future," Batyuk notes, in turn.

"Anti-Russian ideology"

Experts agree that, on the whole, the content of the new US military budget "has a pronounced anti-Russian component."

As Vladimir Batyuk noted, this document, which includes tougher sanctions against Nord Stream 2, is "a very definite signal that after the change of the owner of the White House, US policy will not fundamentally change, including with respect to Russia."

“One should not expect any significant progress in Russian-American relations with the arrival of Biden.

The approved document will not change the existing military balance in the world, ”Batyuk added.

  • U.S. military

  • © REUTERS / Eduardo Munoz

Analysts also believe that the anti-Russian focus of the defense budgets and other regulations adopted in the United States will only intensify over time.

“This is a completely natural form of behavior for politicians in the United States,” Batyuk said.

He also believes that "in any political situation in the United States, Washington will continue to confront Moscow, expanding its claims to global leadership."

Vladimir Vasiliev, in turn, noted that the new defense budget of the United States is a kind of signal for the Biden administration to increase sanctions pressure on Russia.

“Democrats today share this approach.

But here the interests of all US political forces converged.

Anti-Russian ideology is dominant, and on a bipartisan basis, ”the expert concluded.