The White House recently requested a large increase to the defense budget for next year, asking for $54 billion dollars, a 10% increase in spending. President Trump called it, “a public safety and national security” budget. With this increase, there will have to be funding cuts to other government funded programs, such as education, environmental, science, welfare, and foreign aid. Over the past few years, spending on the military has gone down, causing many bases to be shut down. Michael Meyer, senior, said, “All the cuts that have affected Iowa because of this planned increase in defense spending are unnecessary. We should spend money on education and scholarships instead.” This increase is hoping to reverse this. Reports say this budget will allow for an increase of active duty personnel. The goal is an increase from 480,000 to 540,000 troops in the Army, from 23 to 36 battalions in the Marine Corps (or about 10,000 troops), a total of 350 ships in the Navy from the current 276, and an increase to 1,200 tactical aircraft from the current 1,100. The remaining budget will go to better missile development and cyber capabilities of the military. Josh Docherty, senior, said, “You can’t be too careful. Better to be safe than sorry.” With the United states already leading the world in military spending, this increase only widens the gap. The $54 billion increase would cause America’s budget to be about 80% the size of Russia’s total military spending, an area where Russia is ranked fifth. The United States’ total defense budget is nine times larger than Russia’s. This increase would also make the U.S. responsible for 40% of the world’s military spending.