President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 27 he hopes will lead to what he called "a great rebuilding" of United States Armed Forces, apparently without regard of the cost to the economy.
The executive order calls for reviews of the military's readiness capabilities, and a review of the nuclear and missile defense capabilities that will lead to "developing a plan for new planes, new ships, new resources and new tools for our men and women in uniform, and I'm very proud to be doing that," said Trump.
"As we prepare our budget request of Congress, and I think Congress is going to be very happy to see it, our military strength will be questioned by no one, but neither will our dedication to peace. And we do want peace."
Trump praised the U.S. military as "the greatest force for justice and peace and goodness that have ever walked the face of this earth. Your legacy exists everywhere in the world today where people are more free, more prosperous, and more secure because of the United States of America."
Trump later told media that a strong military is "more important" than a balanced budget, in effect admitting a willingness to use deficit spending to fund this massive build-up of American military power.
Defending this position, Trump said "a balanced budget is fine. But sometimes, you have to fuel the well in order to really get the economy going. And we have to take care of our military. Our military is more important to me than a balanced budget because we'll get there with a balanced budget."
Trump repeated this stand later saying he eventually wanted to have a balanced budget eventually, but "I want to have a strong military. To me, that's much more important than anything."
Trump's executive order also directs the Pentagon to conduct a 30-day review of the U.S.-led effort to defeat ISIL.
But more important, the Pentagon will evaluate how prepared the American military is to deal with its near-peer competitors: Russia and China. It also instructed the Pentagon and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to develop an emergency budget amendment to boost military spending this year within 90 days.
The executive order also directed Defense Secretary James Mattis to develop a new national security plan by January 2018. This new plan will include plans for modernizing The U.S. nuclear forces and developing new missile defense capabilities.