O/T:- Trump Presidency 2.0 [hic sunt dracones]

[andy6025]

Canadian defence spending is up to a whopping 1.37% of GDP... Your article doesn't specify a new target but presumably the already-committed 2% will be it. While you've every right of course to claim every last dollar of that is wasted (I strongly disagree, but hey we can't always agree on everything can we), there are obviously a lot of other spending priorities that are higher and eating your budget.

I am also sceptical as ever of claims that trump's continual random mouthings-off are part of any kind of strategy whatsoever. If he was trying to get people to buy more US-made military gear he's failed miserably with his "pee off all of your allies and show the world you're an unreliable security partner" shtick. As evidenced by your article in which Carney declares buying so much US kit to be "not smart".

While I will certainly agree that Trump is no grand strategist, I think there is some method to his madness. I think it is less the case that he is pimping for the US defence industry in particular, and instead pushing for a significant reduction in US military presence abroad. He has made no secret of his belief, right or wrong, that he thinks the US is footing the bill as world police and that he believes the rest of the west ought to step up in their stead. The outgoing NATO chief even recently praised Trump as having been responsible for a significant boost on NATO military spending among non-US states. And Trump has said he wants the same again.

While Carney publicly says he wants to steer new funding away from US manufacturers, a claim that is met with much fanfare, what actually happens may well be different, as indicated by our proposed plan to give Lockheed Martin $5B for missiles that we will never fire, but may well give away for some lost cause.

https://thedefensepost.com/2025/03/1...ocurement/amp/

[andy6025]

As for the spending target, what Trump and Rutte are pushing for is 5% of GDP, as opposed to Canada’s current 1.37%. That’s almost quadrupling our defense budget.

This is no small potatoes. Canada’s total government spending is around 40% of GDP. This would make military spending move to a whopping 12.5% of government expenditures instead of around the current 3.5%. That is no small potatoes. That would require a massive tax increases, massive debt or massive austerity. And as I said, I think we should have much more important priorities for things upon which to increase our spending.