Election Project Roles/Issues Worksheet

Name:

Nathan Brown

Candidate Name:

Donald J. Trump

Campaign Role:

Economy

Issue: Military Spending

What does your candidates website say?

Increase the number of Marine Corps battalions to 36
Provide the Air Force with 1200 fighter jets
Invest in a new serious missile defense system
Rebuild the US Navy to 350 ships
Increase the Army to 540,000 soldiers

Link:
Quotes:

https://www.donaldjtrump.com/policies/national-defense/

Work with Congress to fully repeal the defense sequester and submit a new
budget to rebuild our depleted military.
Increase the size of the U.S. Army to 540,000 active duty soldiers, which
the Army Chief of Staff says he needs to execute current missions.
Rebuild the U.S. Navy toward a goal of 350 ships, as the bipartisan National
Defense Panel has recommended.
Provide the U.S. Air Force with the 1,200 fighter aircraft they need.
Grow the U.S. Marine Corps to 36 battalions.
Invest in a serious missile defense system to meet growing threats by
modernizing our Navy's cruisers and procuring additional, modern
destroyers to counter the ballistic missile threat from Iran and North Korea

Notes:
The website does not give numbers and specifics as to how Trump will be handling military
spending. He has proposed to in
Summary (This should be like an opening statement in the debate!)
Mr. Trump promises to increase the size of the military at a lower cost, however he plans to
do this at a lower cost, which will strengthen our military while simultaneously helping to
decrease the debt.

What does an outside source say that SUPPORTS your candidates position?

Link:
Quotes:

http://www.ontheissues.org/2016/Donald_Trump_Budget_+_Economy.htm

Q: Are you going to get rid of entire departments?

TRUMP: I would get rid of some. For example, the Department of
Education. I would certainly get rid of a lot of it. I want local education. We
could save a fortune with Environmental Protection-Q: what is another agency you'd get rid of?
TRUMP: Even in the military, I'm going to build a military that's much
stronger than it is right now. But you know what? We can do it for a lot less.
Q: So you believe you can spend less money on defense than we do
today?
TRUMP: I think we can make our defense much stronger and spend
somewhat less money.

Notes: Trump wants to cut the deficit by cutting military spending, but he also wants to
increase the size of the military at the same time Claiming he can get better deals and
find better costs.
Summary: Trump will be increasing the scale of our military, adding troops, jets, ships and
upgrading our nuclear capabilities and bringing our defense systems into the 21st century.
Trump also will keep in mind the US debt, he will get better deals making leading to the
government not spending as much as it is now on the military but still getting what they need.

What does an outside source say that OPPOSES your candidates position?

Link:

Quotes:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/donald-trumps-war-with-the-us-military/2
016/09/09/a6701dae-7678-11e6-8149-b8d05321db62_story.html?utm_term=.f1b3
6052e77c

Trump later implied that he would fire current generals who, in the
American tradition, are avowedly nonpartisan and replace them with
retired generals who have supported him politically.
But Trump goes beyond the standard criticism of the president and civilian

leaders to condemn the military itself.

Our military is a disaster, he has said.
And: The military is in shambles.

Notes:
Trump has repeatedly belittled the military and yet he expects, and most often gets the
respect and endorsements from the military and its personnel. He somehow expects to be
able to negotiate his way to getting low prices on whatever is needed to grow the military to
the size he wants and cut the national debt at the same time.
Summary: