Hillary Clinton on Friday knocked President Trump’s proposed budget cuts to foreign aid, saying they would threaten the safety and security of the US.
“We are seeing signals of a shift that should alarm us all,’’ Clinton, the former secretary of state, said during a speech at Georgetown University in DC.
“This administration’s proposed cuts to international health, development and diplomacy would be a blow to women and children and a grave mistake for our country,” she said.
Trump’s proposed fiscal 2017 budget would slash spending for international programs including the State Department — which Clinton headed up under the Obama Administration — and US Agency for International Development by 28.5 percent, to $27.1 billion.
Some foreign assistance and other international development projects would also be cut.
In February, more than 120 retired generals and admirals signed a letter urging Congress to block the State Department and USAID reductions, saying the agencies help save the military from fighting wars.
“These distinguished women and men who have served in uniform recognize that turning our back on diplomacy won’t make our country safer, it will undermine our security and our standing in the world,’’ Clinton said.
The White House has defended its steep budget cuts as a shift toward funding “hard power” — the military and border security — at the expense of “soft power.”
But there appears to be little appetite for the approach in Congress, where both Republican and Democratic lawmakers have criticized Team Trump’s budget.
For the second time this week, the former first lady has slammed Trump.
Earlier, she criticized White House press secretary Sean Spicer for chastising a female reporter after she shook her head in response to his non-answer to a question during a press briefing.
With Post Wires