During the 2017 presidential campaign, candidate Donald Trump talked about expanding the Navy from 272 ships to at least 350 ships.
The budget President Trump submitted to Congress this week does not make good on that pledge, at least not this year, said Lynn Reaser, Chief Economist at Point Loma Nazarene University.
“The president seemed to be committed to (expansion) but not in this budget," Reaser said. "Basically, he’s looking at only eight ships to be built in 2018, about the same number as President Obama proposed.”
To get to the president’s goal of 350, the Navy would have to order at least 12 ships a year. One of his roadblocks includes the Budget Control Act of 2011, which imposes caps on domestic and military spending to limit the deficit. Removing those caps would require cooperation among the parties in Washington.
This budget proposal focused more on readiness issues like repairing aging equipment and adding troops. Defense spending makes up a fifth of San Diego's economy. The overall increase in the defense budget under Trump is expected to trickle down to the local economy. A TAO oil tanker is one of the eight ships in next year’s budget. It would be built in San Diego at General Dynamics NASSCO. The president’s budget also includes pay raises for sailors, Marines and civilian defense workers above those proposed under the Obama administration. That helps roughly 137,000 workers in San Diego County, Reaser said.
Under the Trump proposal, the Navy would also add 4,000 sailors, as part of the plan to increase the size of the military. Reaser said to expect some of those new sailors would end up in San Diego.
