President Trump[1] told one of the nation’s largest veterans group Tuesday that the U.S. doesn’t “seek conflict” overseas despite his robust military buildup, a day after he warned Iran’s leader against provoking America.
Speaking at the annual Veterans of Foreign Wars national convention in Kansas City, Missouri, Mr. Trump[2] said his two-year, $1.4 trillion Defense budget “is committed to ensuring that our war fighters have the tools, the resources, the firepower that they need to defeat our enemies with overwhelming force.”
“Hopefully we will never have to use the kind of power that I’m building and helping to build for you,” the president said. “Hopefully people will look at us and they’ll say ‘let’s pass, let’s pass.’”
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has warned the U.S. not to engage in the “mother of all wars” with Tehran, prompting Mr. Trump[3] to fire back on social media this week that Iran would “suffer consequences” of historic proportions if it ever threatened the U.S. again.
Democrats accused Mr. Trump[4] of threatening war with Iran to divert attention from his controversial meeting last week with Russian President Vladimir Putin. But Mr. Trump[5] told the VFW that “America is a peace-loving nation.”
“We do not seek conflict, but if conflict is forced upon us, we will defend ourselves and if we must, we will fight and we will do nothing but win,” the president said to applause.
Mr. Trump[6] didn’t mention his war of words with the Iranian leader, but he did discuss his decision to withdraw the U.S. “from the horrible one-sided Iran nuclear deal” signed by former President Barack Obama.
“And Iran is not the same country any more,” the president said. “We’ll see what happens, but we’re ready to make a real deal, not the deal that was done by the previous administration, which was a disaster.”
As he arrived in Missouri, Mr. Trump[7] also pushed back sarcastically against criticism in both parties that he hasn’t been tough enough on Russia for interfering in the presidential election in 2016....
“I’m very concerned that Russia will be fighting very hard to have an impact on the upcoming Election,” Mr. Trump[8] tweeted. “Based on the fact that no President has been tougher on Russia than me, they will be pushing very hard for the Democrats. They definitely don’t want Trump[9]!”The president was accompanied to the VFW convention by new Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert L. Wilkie, who was confirmed by the Senate on Monday night on a vote of 86-9. Mr. Trump[10] said the only senators who voted against new Mr. Wilkie were Democrats who plan on running against Mr. Trump[11] in 2020.“The only ones who actually voted against him were all the people, super-lefts, who are running against me in two