THERE’S BEEN A flurry of news about Trump since he became President. Are you confused about all those Russia allegations, those claims about spying, and endless analysis about how the Donald shakes hands?
Don’t worry, you can forget all that for now and focus on what’s arguably the most important news piece so far: Trump’s budget.
The budget is important because whatever weird late-night tweet Trump sends or awkward handshake he gives, the budget is what reveals where his real priorities lie.
As the saying goes, follow the money, and you will know what someone cares or doesn’t care about.
Easy to understand
Trump’s budget is very easy to understand: he’s boosting the military, while cutting everything else, including programmes for the arts, housing, the environment, diplomacy, communities, you name it.
To give you an idea of the Trump administration’s “We don’t give a damn” attitude, listen to Mick Mulvaney, the budget director. He said he doesn’t care about climate change, declaring: “We’re not spending money on that anymore” because “it’s a waste of your money”. Scary.
Reactions to the proposals
Lots of groups reacted with outrage when the proposed budget was released. The New York Times said that “Trump is in full tear-down mode”. The Sierra Club, an environmental group, said that “the only thing that matters in [Trump’s] America is corporate polluters’ profits and Wall Street billionaires”.
Amnesty International said it was “shameful”. The Union of Concerned Scientists declared that cutting scientific programmes is “misguided science, which will hurt our economy, kill jobs, make us less safe”.
The American Library Association observed that the budget was “counterproductive and shortsighted”. The American Federation of Teachers said that “This budget takes a meat cleaver to public education”.
And it’s not only liberals who are appalled. Many Republicans are as well because the cuts attack directly people and communities in their constituencies.
For example, one Republican Representative described the budget as “draconian, careless and counterproductive”. In other word, while Trump relied on many working class voters to elect him, he’s now betraying them.
Budget shows what Trump would like to do
Sure, the proposed budget must be approved by Congress, which will most likely resist some of the changes. Nevertheless, it gives us a very good idea of what Trump would like to do.
It also shows that the deluded analysts and journalists who keep repeating that we have to “give Trump a chance” or to “wait and see what he does” before criticising him are dead wrong.
The best way to understand Trump’s destructive budget is to look at it item by item. Only three areas receive more money: the military, homeland security and veterans. Everything else gets cut. Here are the details (and more details can be found in this summary):
Boosts
Cuts
It’s crazy, isn’t it? Trump is militarising the US and destroying civil society and the environment. It’s that simple.
Julien Mercille is an associate professor at University College Dublin. Twitter: @JulienMercille.
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