Pentagon budget leaves uncertain future for Middle East
President Donald Trump authorized on Monday the Pentagon’s 2019 budget, which will underwrite big upgrades for US weapons systems and troop numbers but leaves an uncertain future for the Pentagon’s operations in the Middle East.
US President Donald Trump signed the annual US defense authorization into law on Monday, a step toward shifting the Pentagon’s focus away from the decadeslong Middle East war on terrorism to great power conflicts against China and Russia.
As Trump put his signature on the $716 billion legislation, named after intraparty rival John McCain, that puts the United States on a long course to build a 355-ship Navy and significantly cuts the post-9/11 warfighting fund, the new law faces a bureaucratic fight within the Defense Department as the massive agency tries to determine how to rebalance its forces.
