President Donald Trump recently indicated that he is seeking to raise the U.S. defense budget by 10 percent. In the most recent fisal year which ended on September 30, 2016, the Pentagon's budget came to $585 billion and Trump's proposal would increase that to $603 billion. Despite Congress being controlled by the Republicans, Trump's plan will have to be approved, a process which could take months.
Gallup recently conducted a poll to gauge public opinion on the current level of U.S. military expenditure. It found that 37 percent of people think the government is spending too little compared to 31 percent who say it's too much and 28 percent who think it's about right. The frend of "too little" exceeding "too much" is infrequent in Gallup's polling only occurring before or after a Republican administration replaces a Democratic one. Historically, the percentage of Americans saying Washington spends too much on defense peaked during the Vietnam was in the early 70s and again at the end of the Cold War in 1990 under Reagan.
1 In 3 Say The U.S. Spends Too Little On The Military
Military Expenditure
Description
This chart shows the % thinking the U.S. spends too little/too much on the military and defense.
