Clinton, Trump vie for title of commander in chief
Speaking at a national security forum hosted by NBC Wednesday night, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton said steadiness is the most important characteristic for a commander in chief.
Clinton said a president must have an “absolute rock steadiness mixed with strength to be able to make the hard decisions.”
She noted her time advising President Barack Obama in the White House situation room, including on the decision process on the raid that killed Osama bin Laden.
Fielding questions from the audience, Clinton insisted that none of the emails she sent or received had a header that clearly marked “top secret.” She conceded that some of the messages included references to the covert drone program, but she said there was no discussion of “covert actions” in the messages.
She also said there was no evidence her email server was hacked.
The forum, presented with the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, could serve as a warm-up to the highly anticipated first presidential debate, scheduled for Sept. 26 in New York.
Republican Donald Trump was scheduled to appear at the forum after Clinton.
Trump calls for higher spending
Earlier Wednesday, Trump vowed to boost military spending by tens of billions of dollars, as he outlined plans for major increases in the number of active troops, Navy ships and submarines, and fighter planes.
The New York businessman, who has struggled at times to demonstrate a command of foreign policy, also seemed to acknowledge he does not currently have a plan to address cyber security or Islamic State.
If elected, Trump said, he would give military leaders 30 days to formulate a plan to defeat the group, commonly known as ISIS. And he would ask the Joint Chiefs of Staff to conduct a review of the nation’s cyber defenses to determine all vulnerabilities.
“We want to deter, avoid and prevent conflict through our unquestioned military strength,” Trump declared of his Democratic opponent in his Wednesday speech, delivered inside the exclusive Union League of Philadelphia, which first allowed women in 1986.
The appearances mark an intense, two-day focus on national security by Trump, who has offered tough rhetoric on America’s challenges abroad but few details.
The United States currently spends more than $600 billion a year on the military, more than the next seven countries combined.
Clinton has tried to paint the billionaire businessman as erratic, making the case that his disposition would be a major liability on the world stage.
“They know they can count on me to be the kind of commander in chief who will protect our country and our troops, and they know they cannot count on Donald Trump,” Clinton said Tuesday. “They view him as a danger and a risk.”
Trump’s team has worked aggressively in recent days to turn deflect such criticism back at Clinton.
“She’s trigger-happy and very unstable,” Trump said of his Democratic opponent, calling her use of a private email server while secretary of state “reckless.”
Trump’s Union League address also included his plans to eliminate deep spending cuts, known as the “sequester,” enacted when Congress failed to reach a budget compromise in 2011. Republicans and Democrats voted for the automatic, across-the board cuts that affected both military and domestic programs.
Trump has given mixed signals about whether he wants to increase military spending overall.
While Trump has often complained that U.S. forces are not large enough or well-equipped, he’s also said that he’d save money by cutting waste and ensuring that contractors aren’t getting sweetheart deals because of their connections or lobbying efforts.
His position on the sequester has been even more murky. Trump expressed support for the cuts in interviews in 2013 – even describing them as too small – but seemed to suggest at the time that military spending should be exempt, undermining the sequester premise.
This story was originally published September 8, 2016 at 12:13 AM.