--- title: Donald Trump Criticized Wasteful Spending, Praised Military description: President Donald Trump criticized a spending bill for containing waste, then highlighted military projects that have gone over budget. canonical: https://time.com/5213526/president-trump-bashed-wasteful-spending-then-he-praised-over-budget-military-projects/ author: W.J. Hennigan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-03-23T21:24:58.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-12T09:03:56.822Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Trump Bashed Wasteful Spending. Then He Praised Over-Budget Military Projects og:description: The price tag for the long-troubled F-35 Joint Strike Fighter has nearly doubled. og:url: https://time.com/5213526/president-trump-bashed-wasteful-spending-then-he-praised-over-budget-military-projects/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt08de9885775e46a1/69892bd1db2987b46525f32f/gettyimages-937066406.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: President Trump Makes Statement And Signs Spending Bill og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Trump Bashed Wasteful Spending. Then He Praised Over-Budget Military Projects twitter:description: The price tag for the long-troubled F-35 Joint Strike Fighter has nearly doubled. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt08de9885775e46a1/69892bd1db2987b46525f32f/gettyimages-937066406.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 video:duration: 01:20 video:published: 2018-03-23 section: politics topics: government spending, omnibus budget bill, government shutdown, national security, military funding, presidential veto, Congress, Democrats genre: news conference, political statement tones: critical, defensive, resigned, assertive emotions: frustration (medium), determination (medium), resignation (low) sentiment: neutral audience: political news followers, voters, policy observers, government watchers people: Donald Trump, Barack Obama organizations: Congress, Democrats, U.S. military content_suitability: politics [00:00-01:20] transcript_source: publisher captions transcript_reviewed: not applicable ---  # President Trump Bashed Wasteful Spending. Then He Praised Over-Budget Military Projects > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. Senior correspondent Philip Elliott brings sharp context to the issues driving the capital, connecting the decisions made in Washington to the institutions, industries and people they affect. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=2d20839d-fc6f-4836-8550-a7997ff9a151&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: President Trump Averts Government Shutdown and Signs $1.3 Trillion Spending Bill – Despite Empty Veto Threat [Watch (HLS stream): President Trump Averts Government Shutdown and Signs $1.3 Trillion Spending Bill – Despite Empty Veto Threat](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/vI7y1stb.m3u8) (1:20)  _Published 2018-03-23. President Donald Trump held a news conference Friday where announced he had signed a $1.3 trillion spending bill, just hours after he said he would veto it — but he openly expressed his disapproval, saying he only signed it at as a matter of security_ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary President Trump says he signed a $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill as a matter of national security, while expressing strong dissatisfaction with its contents. He says the bill includes things he didn't want, that Democrats added provisions to win their votes, and that he will not sign a bill like this again. He explains he had considered a veto but was persuaded by the gains the bill provides for the military. ## Key points - Trump says he signed the omnibus budget bill as a matter of national security. (00:00) - He says there are many things he is unhappy about in the bill and things he shouldn't have had in it. (00:04) - Trump says the bill was necessary to build the military, and he felt forced to accept certain provisions. (00:12) - He says he will never sign another bill like this again. (00:22) - Trump says nobody read the bill because it was only hours old. (00:31) - He notes the bill's $1.3 trillion size is the second largest ever, and that a larger bill was signed by President Obama. (00:36) - Trump says Democrats added provisions they wanted in order to get their votes. (00:50) - He says he seriously considered a veto but the military gains overrode that thinking. (01:02) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 00:22] Signing the bill for national security. Trump explains he signed the omnibus bill for national security reasons despite disliking parts of it. - [00:22 to 00:36] A warning to Congress. Trump tells Congress he will never sign a bill like this again and says the bill was not read. - [00:36 to 00:50] Size of the spending bill. Trump compares the bill's size to past spending bills and attributes its growth to military needs and Democratic demands. - [00:50 to 01:20] Considering and rejecting the veto. Trump says he considered a veto but chose to sign because of gains for the military. ## Key quotes - [00:00] President Donald Trump: "As a matter of national security I've signed omnibus budget bill." - [00:22] President Donald Trump: "But I say to Congress I will never sign another bill like this again." - [00:31] President Donald Trump: "Nobody read it, it's only hours old" - [00:50] President Donald Trump: "because the Democrats who don't belive in that add things that they wanted in order to get their votes." - [01:07] President Donald Trump: "I was thinking about doing the veto but because of the incredible gains that we've been able to make for the military, that overrode any of our thinking." ## Questions this video answers - Why did Trump sign the spending bill? [00:00] - What does Trump think of the contents of the spending bill? [00:04] - How large is the spending bill compared to past bills? [00:36] - Why did Trump say the spending bill grew so large? [00:50] - Why did Trump decide not to veto the bill? [01:02] ## Content suitability - politics [00:00-01:20]: Discussion of a government spending bill, congressional negotiations and a potential veto.  by [W.J. Hennigan](https://time.com/author/w-j-hennigan/)  ## W.J. Hennigan Mar 23, 2018 9:24 PM UTC President Donald Trump held a news conference Friday where announced he had signed a $1.3 trillion spending bill, just hours after he said he would veto it — but he openly expressed his disapproval, saying he only signed it at as a matter of security  by [W.J. Hennigan](https://time.com/author/w-j-hennigan/)  ## W.J. Hennigan Mar 23, 2018 9:24 PM UTC President Donald Trump [signed a $1.3 trillion spending bill](http://time.com/5212990/donald-trump-signs-spending-bill-shutdown-veto/?xid=homepage) into law at the White House on Friday, narrowly avoiding a government shutdown, despite concerns it was full of what he deemed wasteful programs. “I was thinking about [doing the veto](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/977166887493799936?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref%5Furl=http%3A%2F%2Ftime.com%2F5212990%2Fdonald-trump-signs-spending-bill-shutdown-veto%2F),” Trump told reporters. “But because of the incredible gains that we’ve been able to make for the military, that overrode any of our thinking.” > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/977166887493799936) The president read a laundry list of multi-billion dollar weapons purchases included in the bill, rattling off battleships, warplanes and submarines. However, many of the programs he listed by name have been plagued with cost overruns, programmatic delays and the very taxpayer waste that he criticized. The F-35 fighter jet. The KC-46A aerial refueling tanker. The P-8A Poseidon submarine-hunting jet. “We’re very proud of many of the items that we’ve been able to get,” Trump said. “We’re very disappointed that in order to fund the military, we had to give up things where we consider in many cases them to be bad or them to be a waste of money. But that’s the way unfortunately right now the system works.” The more than 2,200-page bill includes nearly $700 billion for the military and $591 billion in non-defense spending. At least $2.9 billion of that money will be invested into what’s known as the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program. The radar-evading fighter jet, manufactured by Lockheed Martin Corp., has been [beset by problems](http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2136312,00.html) since it first began in 2001\. It has been delayed by glitches in its onboard computer systems, cracks in structural components and even bugs with the pilots’ high-tech helmets. The price tag, meanwhile, has nearly doubled to more than $400 billion for 2,456 jets. Robert Behler, the Defense Department’s director of operational testing, said in an [annual report released in January](http://www.dote.osd.mil/pub/reports/FY2017/pdf/dod/2017f35jsf.pdf) that there are about 1,000 unresolved deficiencies with the aircraft nearly two decades after it started. Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and frequent critic of defense spending abuse, once called the F-35 program “[both a scandal and a tragedy](https://www.mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2016/4/opening-statement-by-sasc-chairman-john-mccain-on-the-f-35-joint-strike-fighter-program)” and a “[predictable consequence of a broken defense acquisition system](https://www.mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2017/1/statement-by-senator-john-mccain-on-the-f-35-joint-strike-fighter-program).” It took the Air Force three attempts and a decade to begin replacing its fleet of 415 Eisenhower Administration-era refueling tankers. The process, which also began in 2001, failed two times amid accusations of underhanded politics and discriminatory rule-making. Boeing Co. was [finally declared a winner](http://nation.time.com/2011/02/24/boeing-lands-air-force-tanker-deal-for-now/) over rival Northrop Grumman Corp. for the $35 billion contract in 2011, yet the planes still aren’t operational. The spending budget has set aside $510 million in taxpayer money for three KC-46A tanker aircraft, despite the chagrin of military leadership with the program. U.S. Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson [laid out the concerns](https://breakingdefense.com/2018/03/secaf-wilson-rips-boeing-for-more-kc-46-problems/) Tuesday during testimony with the House Armed Services Committee. “One of our frustrations with Boeing is they’re much more focused on their commercial activity than on getting this right for the Air Force and getting these aircraft to the Air Force,” she said. “And that’s the message we took to them in Seattle last week. We have asked them to put their A-team on this to get these problems fixed and get this aircraft to the Air Force.” Boeing has amassed around $2 billion in charges on the program related to delays and cost overruns. The P-8A Poseidon, another Boeing-made plane, [has also been criticized](http://www.dote.osd.mil/pub/reports/FY2014/pdf/navy/2014p8a%5Fposeidon%5Fmma.pdf) although to a much lesser degree. The program previously had deficiencies anti-submarine warfare and wide area reconnaissance capabilities, two of its main missions. William D. Hartung, director of the arms and security project at the Center for International Policy, a left-leaning think tank in Washington, said the cost and performance problems with programs like the F-35 and KC-46 are notorious and shouldn’t be overlooked. “If the President wanted to talk about waste he should have referenced the ramping up of these programs, which are clearly not ready for prime time,” Hartung said. “What’s not clear is whether the president has any sense of the strategic value of any of the items he reeled off, or a sense of whether the programs in question are well managed.” Defense Secretary James Mattis, [who appeared alongside Trump](https://www.defense.gov/News/Article/Article/1474925/trump-mattis-hail-spending-bill-to-fund-strongest-military-ever/source/GovDelivery/) at the White House, said it was “the largest military budget in history, reversing many years of decline and unpredictable funding.” Most military spending has been capped for the past few years under budget controls meant to rein in government debt. Trump blamed this on the Democrats but, in fact, [it was Republicans’ doing](http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2130991,00.html). In July 2011, now-House Speaker Paul Ryan locked his veteran Budget Committee staff director, Austin Smythe, in a room for 48 hours with his aides and had them rewrite the 1985 Budget Control Act that first created the across-the-board cuts known as the sequester. That modified bill became the $1.2 trillion end-of-the-year spending-cut threat that is caused the GOP so much grief as the nation annually hung on a fiscal cliff. The new infusion of cash gives the military invites waste and abuse, according to critics like Hartung, because it’s more money than the Pentagon can absorb. But to arms manufacturers and the defense industry, it is a welcome reprieve after the many years of living under the sequester. John Luddy, vice president for national security policy at the Aerospace Industries Association, which represents the defense industry on Capitol Hill, [said in a statement](https://www.aia-aerospace.org/news/initial-aia-reactions-omnibus-spending-bill/) that the bill was “a big step in the right direction” for the Pentagon. “It makes significant investments in vital acquisition programs and provides necessary flexibility on operations and maintenance spending, he said. “To meet the strategic objectives outlined in the National Defense Strategy, we’ll need to continue to increase investment for at least the next five years.” ## Transcript [00:00] As a matter of national security I've signed omnibus [00:04] budget bill. There are a lot of things I'm unhappy [00:08] about in this bill. There are a lot of things [00:12] that we shouldn't have had in this bill but we were, in a [00:16] sense, forced if we want to build our military, we were [00:20] forced to have. There are some things that we should [00:22] have in the bill. But I say to Congress I will never sign [00:26] another bill like this again. I'm not going to do it again. [00:31] Nobody read it, it's only hours old, some [00:36] people don't even know what 1. 3 trillion dollars, it's [00:39] the second largest ever. President Obama signed one [00:43] that was actually larger. Which I'm sure he wasn't too [00:46] happy with either. But in this case it became [00:50] so big because we need to take care of our military, [00:54] and because the Democrats who don't belive [00:59] in that add things that they wanted in order to get their [01:02] votes. We look at the beetle, I look very seriously [01:07] at The veto. I was thinking about doing the veto but [01:11] because of the incredible gains that we've been able to [01:14] make for the military, that overrode any of our [01:17] thinking. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5213526/president-trump-bashed-wasteful-spending-then-he-praised-over-budget-military-projects/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5213526/president-trump-bashed-wasteful-spending-then-he-praised-over-budget-military-projects/"},"headline":"President Trump Bashed Wasteful Spending. 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