‘Great Nations Do Not Fight Endless Wars’ - Trump Touts Troop Drawdowns in State of the Union by Leo Shane III and Joe Gould - Defense News
President Donald Trump made the case for drawing down the number of American troops fighting overseas and boosting up those deployed along the southern U.S. border in his annual State of the Union address Tuesday night.
Among pleas for bipartisan unity on national issues and attacks on political foes for opposing his policy priorities, the commander in chief promised a national audience that troops in the Middle East and Afghanistan will be returning home soon.
“Our brave troops have now been fighting in the Middle East for almost 19 years,” he said. “In Afghanistan and Iraq, nearly 7,000 American heroes have given their lives. More than 52,000 Americans have been badly wounded. We have spent more than $7 trillion in the Middle East.
“As a candidate for president, I loudly pledged a new approach. Great nations do not fight endless wars,” he said to bipartisan applause.