WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is complaining about how much the U.S. spends on weapons in an "uncontrollable" arms race with Russia and China. But, he vastly overstates how much is spent on actual weapons, even under a budget his administration has increased.
The president said in a tweet the U.S. spent $716 billion this year, an amount he called "Crazy!" He says he expects to discuss the issue with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
His statement appears to confuse the total Defense Department budget with America's investment in the nation's missile defense systems and the strategic nuclear weapons usually associated with the arms race.
The Pentagon's budget for 2019 totals about $716 billion, including health care, pay and war costs. The arms race is just a fraction of that amount.
Disclaimer: This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Associated Press (AP) wire.
