Hello everybody and thank you for tuning in to the weekly report.

Can we really cut half of the military budget? You bet.

The wailing sound you heard last Thursday was the chorus of the Beltway war mongers

shrieking in despair at President Trump's suggestion that there was no reason for the United

States to be spending $1 trillion on defense.

One of the first meetings I want to have is with President Xi of China and President Putin

of Russia.

And I want to say, let's cut our military budget in half,

and we can do that.

And I think we'll be able to do that, the President told reporters.

With this statement, President Trump blew up one of the biggest myths of our time, particularly among Republicans that spending more on the military is essential to keeping us safe.

There is a vast and well-funded network of political and industrial interest

that depends on maintaining that myth.

From the weapons manufacturers to the

mainstream media, to the think tanks, and beyond. Why? Because most of what is called defense

has little to do with defending this country and a lot to do with enriching the politically well connected.

Maintaining that global military empire has bankrupted the United States while making us less safe and less free.

President Trump seems to understand this, but the military industrial complex and its cheerleaders have for decades pushed the idea that we could not survive without continuously increasing their budgets.

Thanks to the work of the Department of Government Efficiency, we are learning that much of what has been sold as essential spending is nothing of the sort.

Take USAID, for example.

We were led to believe that this agency was feeding the poor while promoting the best kind of American

values overseas. Thanks to DOGE, we learned that the money was going to absurdities like

...