Trump boasts about US military might in commissioning new aircraft carrier
US President Donald Trump boasts about the rebirth of his nation’s military power while commissioning the country’s newest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, referring to it as “a 100,000-ton message to the world" of American military might.
"Wherever this vessel cuts through the horizon our allies will rest easy and our enemies will shake with fear because everyone will know that America is coming and America is coming strong," Trump said on Saturday in an address during the official commissioning of the state-of-the art warship named after the 38th US president, AP reported.
Trump spoke aboard the $12.9 billion warship at the huge naval base in Norfolk, Virginia, criticizing what he described as a lack of investment in new military technology and "a shortfall in military readiness" under the previous administration of Barack Obama.
He further called on the nation’s Congress to approve higher military spending to facilitate the manufacture of "the best equipment. He also urged the legislative body "to do its job and pass the budget," which increases funding for the military.
Trump also stated that there has been "a shortfall in military readiness" and decried "a very, very bad time" for the military" in previous years.
Trump, who was joined by his Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, went on to hail the next-generation aircraft carrier as symbolic of a new era when "everyone will know that America is coming and America is coming strong."
Construction of the warship began in 2009 and was to be completed by September 2015 at a cost of $10.5 billion. The US Navy blames the delays and budget overruns on the ship's state-of-the-art systems.
Former defense secretaries Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney were among a host of officials attending the commissioning ceremony.
Trump flew to the aircraft carrier on the Marine One helicopter, accompanied by his chief of staff Reince Priebus, adviser Stephen Miller and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
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