Donald Trump Will Hollow Out the U.S. Military

My final assignment in the U.S. Navy was as President of the Board of Inspection and Survey and, while it is a bit of an oversimplification, my job was to separate grand claims from real, demonstrated performance. My duty was to independently assess the performance of America’s fleet. It gave me a good eye for talk versus action.

Which brings me to Donald Trump. He often says he alone can lead America militarily. He is making bold claims, saying he will vastly increase defense spending, modernize aging equipment and support our troops like no president before him.

Yet his performance tells a different story. He would be a disaster for our armed forces, and his first term proves it.

He is talk, not action.

When Trump was running for office in 2016, the U.S. Army had 475,000 active-duty personnel. He said he would build that to 540,000. However, when he left office, the Army still had just 475,000 soldiers. He said he would increase our number of Navy ships from 294 to 350, but he didn’t even release a plan for how to do that until December 2020, when he had already lost his place in the White House. He vowed to spend more on the military, but under him, defense spending never topped 3.4% of GDP, lower than it had been in the two previous administrations and nowhere near the 6% it reached under Ronald Reagan.

Trump failed to launch any major new programs to recapitalize on core capabilities like armored vehicles, artillery, ships and aircraft. His Air Force Secretary, Heather Wilson, did produce a plan to expand the Air Force from 312 squadrons to 386, but acting on it wasn’t a priority for Trump and the plan went nowhere.

In fact, that’s precisely why Trump fell so far short on his 2016 campaign promises: he simply didn’t care. For all his talk, when it came time to act, he wasn’t interested. Instead, the famously distractable former president preferred to spend hours each day wading into culture war controversies on social media.

We should all be concerned that Trump has already said he plans to remove career military leaders and replace them with people he considers loyal to him. We have seen for ourselves how that plays out. Prioritizing loyalty over competence in military leaders is why Vladimir Putin’s first phase of the Ukraine invasion was such an astounding failure.

We have also already had a taste of Trump’s focus on loyalty. The constant chaos in the White House with Trump hiring and firing staff (remember blink-and-you-missed-him Anthony Scaramucci?) and four separate secretaries of the Navy during his term made day-to-day work, and especially long-term planning, extremely difficult.

Similarly, Trump has advocated for a go-it-alone approach to international affairs and has suggested that the U.S. should withdraw from NATO. Only someone with a shallow understanding of the nature of global security would even suggest this. In addition to the security we gain from having a deep bench, our allies are critical for our military readiness, not least of which is being able to use their territory for forward basing. Trump’s willingness to alienate our allies is frightening. It could take decades for us to restore the relationships he’s so eager to destroy.

Who we elect in November will have a profound effect on all our lives and especially on the U.S. military. Not only do the men and women who have entrusted their lives and safety to their Commander in Chief deserve better, but experts expect that China will invade Taiwan in 2027, when our next president is two years into his term. If, instead of preparing, that president spends those years sewing chaos, alienating allies, and undermining the intricate plans of true subject matter experts, China’s aggression will succeed, and Russia and all our other enemies will be emboldened.

To put a finer point on it, a second Trump term would be a disaster for military readiness and losing a war could be the consequence.

Like he did in 2016, Trump is making grandiose claims about how only he can rebuild our military and keep America safe.  Based on his own underwhelming record, his word isn’t worth much. His talk of bolstering our armed forces may fire up his base, but given his previous performance, lets acknowledge it’s nothing more than talk – the bluster of a career conman and salesman who says whatever will help him seal the deal. He didn’t rebuild our military when he had the chance. In a second administration, he would hollow out our military when we can least afford it.

About the Author: Rear Admiral Michael Smith, U.S. Navy (Retired)

Rear Admiral Michael Smith is a retired Rear Admiral in the United States Navy. His final duty assignment was as President of the Board of Inspection and Survey, where he was responsible for independently assessing the Navy’s overall fleet performance.