Donald Trump on Sunday confirmed his intention to veto the US defense budget bill, passed by the US Congress on Friday.
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“The biggest winner of our new defense law is China! I will put my veto! », Tweeted the US president, who is opposed to the text for several other reasons.
Mr Trump’s refusal to enact this budget law does not necessarily mean it was stillborn, far from it: the $ 740.5 billion US defense budget was passed by an overwhelming majority by the House of Representatives and by 84 votes to 13 in the Senate, ie a “super-majority” to allow the two chambers to override the presidential veto.
It remains to be seen whether elected Republican officials will backtrack in this tussle between the legislative and the executive. If Mr. Trump’s veto were rejected by elected officials, it would represent a first in his four-year term in the White House.
In addition to being too favorable to China, Donald Trump criticizes the text in particular for not including a clause abolishing legal protection for social networks, which the Republican billionaire accuses of being biased against him.
The president is also opposed to the fact that the Pentagon funding bill opens up the possibility of renaming military bases honoring Confederate generals, who fought in defense of slavery.