President Donald Trump has a penchant for eyewatering, Dr Evil-style demands from media outlets and others: last year’s filing against the BBC for ‘ten billion dollars’ has been just one of a much longer string.1
The cheque he’s demanding from the US public for military spending is an order of magnitude higher. Last year the US defence budget topped $1 trillion (£730 million) for the first time.2 Unplacated, this year Trump has gone back to the US Congress with a $1.5 trillion ask, the largest increase in defence spending since the Second World War.
