川普參觀造價130億美元戰艦，承諾增加國防預算

U.S. President Donald Trump promised to boost defense spending when he visited a Virginia shipyard Thursday to tour the most expensive warship ever built.

Wearing a military jacket and ball cap, Trump toured the USS Gerald R. Ford, a $12.9 billion warship that has been plagued by cost overruns and delays but is expected to be commissioned later this year. He used the high-profile event to showcase the budget pledge he made this week to dramatically boost U.S. military spending.

During Tuesday night's address to Congress, he said, "To keep America safe, we must provide the men and women of the United States military with the tools they need to prevent war.

The war vessel shifts from steam to electrical power and will be equipped with the best weaponry, communications and operating systems in the nation, according to the builder.

The president's initial request for a $54 billion hike boosts the Pentagon budget to more than $600 billion a year. Calling it one of the largest increases in history, Trump said he would even like $30 billion more than that to strengthen what he called a “depleted military”. By contrast, the State Department receives roughly $50 billion a year for programs including foreign aid, assistance and development.美國總統川普週四來到弗吉尼亞州的一個造船廠，參觀有史以來最昂貴的一艘戰艦，並承諾要增加國防開支。

川普穿着軍用夾克，頭戴棒球帽，巡視了福特號航空母艦。這艘價值129億美元的軍艦造價超支，又出現各種延誤，但預計將在今年晚些時候投入使用。川普借這次備受關注的活動來展示他本週提出的大幅提高美國軍費開支的承諾。

川普週二晚上在國會發表講話時說：“爲了保護美國的安全，我們必須爲美軍將士提供他們所需的工具來防止戰爭。”

建造這艘戰艦的公司說，戰艦從蒸汽動力改爲電力，並配備了最好的武器、通信和操作系統。

川普總統最初的要求是增加540億美元國防開支，使五角大樓的預算增加到每年6000多億美元。川普說，這是有史以來軍費漲幅最大的一次，他甚至想要再增加300億美元，以加強他所稱的“消耗殆盡的軍力”。相比之下，國務院每年得到大約500億美元用於對外援助和發展等項目。