Vets slam Trump for 'raiding funds' from military pensions to pay for border wall

Trump is going to take more than $220 million from the pensions of American military members to pay for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, according to a Wednesday Wall Street Journal report.

During his 2016 campaign, Trump repeatedly promised Mexico would pay for the wall. When that didn’t happen, Trump turned his eyes toward military families and now plans to take $224 million from the military’s new blended retirement system as part of his multibillion-dollar effort to build a border wall.

The decision sparked outrage from a group representing veterans.

“It is abhorrent, unpatriotic and disgraceful that Donald Trump is raiding funds that had been appropriated for our troops’ retirements, to fund his racist wall,” Will Goodwin, an Army veteran and director of government relations for VoteVets, said in a statement. Goodwin added that the money “could still be used to help other military families facing hard times.”

“Donald Trump, every day, is proving himself to be anti-troop and anti-military family. Today, however, is a particularly egregious example of that.”

The news also bothered Rep. Katie Hill (D-CA), a member of the House Armed Services Committee.

“Service is the backbone of my community, and I am the daughter, granddaughter, and sister of servicemen and veterans,” Hill said in a statement to Shareblue Media. “To think that our president is robbing our military pensions to go against the will of the American people is incredibly disturbing.”

In addition to raiding military pensions, Trump plans on swiping various other military accounts as well. According to the Journal, Puerto Rico is at risk of losing more than $400 million in military projects. And Trump officials will take $604 million that was supposed to support Afghan security forces.

The Trump administration claims there will be no impact on troop readiness or cuts to military benefits.

However, the prospect of massive transfers of funding caused concern among members of Congress.

Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, called the unilateral shifts a “violation of trust” earlier this year, according to the Journal.

Trump has repeatedly bragged about building a wall along the border, only to be corrected by his own border agency, which confirmed Trump has not built a single mile of new wall.

If Trump ever does build a mile of new wall, it will be paid for not by Mexico, but rather through raiding the retirement savings of women and men serving in the military.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.