President Donald Trump told soldiers at Fort Bragg he is updating their equipment and facilities to ensure the American military is “the best trained, the best equipped, the most disciplined, and the most elite fighting force the world has ever seen.”
Trump spoke in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, alongside first lady Melania Trump, to honor U.S. special forces for their roles in the recent capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.
“What we did recently in Venezuela, nobody ever saw anything like that happened,” Trump said.
The president announced a variety of efforts to improve the efficacy of the military. He said he would order construction of an initial fleet of 10 new battleships to strengthen naval capability.
The ships will be “100 times more powerful than the ships that we got to see in the 1940s,” according to Trump.
Trump said he is asking for $1 billion to improve on-base housing and related facilities at Fort Bragg and in the surrounding area.
“We’re also going to spend billions of dollars on improving here and around the area and make it great because the people in this area have been so incredible,” Trump said.
Trump announced the purchase of 30 new Abrams tanks, 48 new Black Hawk Chinook and King Stallion helicopters, and 86 armored multi-purpose fighting vehicles.
“It’s all of the things that you’ve been wanting to get, all brand new and only,” he said. “We’re going to be reviving our strength. We’re going to be doing many other things that nobody thought was even possible. We’re actually using that strength to defend the core, vital interest of the United States.”
Trump echoed that the administration is investing $1 trillion in the armed forces, with an increase to $1.5 trillion planned for next year.
The Trump administration is also implementing an across-the-board pay raise for all service members in honor of the United States’ 250th anniversary.
Trump said he rebuilt the military to be the “strongest military on the face of the earth.”
“We rebuilt. We really did. We rebuilt it in my first time. We had a great first term. We had the best economy in history. But this is blowing it away,” he said.
“We had a great economy the first time, we did everything, but we really created a tremendous military.”
Trump touted increased military recruitment numbers since his election.
“They couldn’t get people to join, and as soon as we won the election, an election took place on Nov. 5,” he said.
“Now we have waiting lists for every branch of the military, waiting lists for people to get in. In other words, your jobs are wanted by everybody.”
