WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump will propose on Monday a 21% cut in foreign aid and slashes to social safety net programs in his $4.8 trillion budget proposal for fiscal 2021, according to senior administration officials.
FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump walks to the Oval Office as he returns from a day trip from North Carolina at the White House in Washington, U.S., February 7, 2020. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo
The budget would spend money to fund infrastructure projects and defense, but would also raise funds by targeting $2 trillion in savings from mandatory spending programs in the United States. It assumes revenues around $3.7 trillion.
Trump, a Republican, sought in his budget proposal last year to slash foreign aid but faced steep resistance from Congress and did not prevail.
The president’s latest blueprint for administration spending proposals is unlikely to be passed by the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives, particularly in an election year.
Trump, who campaigned for the presidency in 2016 on a promise to build a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico, will seek $2 billion in funding for further construction on that project, substantially less than the $8.6 billion he requested a year ago. The administration shifted resources from the military last year after Congress