In this handout photo provided by the U.S. Navy, U.S. navy guided-missile destroyer USS Porter fires a tomahawk land attack missile in the Mediterranean Sea, April 7, 2017. A total of 59 Tomahawk Land Attack missiles were launched from the destroyers USS Porter and USS Ross in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea at about 8:40 p.m. EDT on April 6 (4:40 a.m. on Friday in Syria), and Syrian aircraft, hardened aircraft shelters, fuel points, air defense systems, and radars were targeted, according to a Pentagon statement. (Xinhua/U.S. Navy)

WASHINGTON, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump singled out 4.6 billion U.S. dollars in missile defense funding on Friday, as part of a short-term spending bill that he signed to keep the government open until next month.

The continuing resolution (CR) keeps the federal government open until Jan. 19, 2018, which includes funding for missile defense programs, a request the Trump administration made last month.

The CR, which cleared the House and Senate Thursday night, has about 2.4 billion U.S. dollars for missile defense procurement, 1.3 billion dollars for research and development, among other things.

Before signing the CR, Trump described the new funding for missile defense as "much-needed" in a tweet Friday morning.

The president also signed a 1.5-trillion-dollar tax cut bill into law on Friday before leaving for his Christmas break in Florida.

In this handout photo provided by the U.S. Navy, U.S. navy guided-missile destroyer USS Porter fires a tomahawk land attack missile in the Mediterranean Sea, April 7, 2017. A total of 59 Tomahawk Land Attack missiles were launched from the destroyers USS Porter and USS Ross in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea at about 8:40 p.m. EDT on April 6 (4:40 a.m. on Friday in Syria), and Syrian aircraft, hardened aircraft shelters, fuel points, air defense systems, and radars were targeted, according to a Pentagon statement. (Xinhua/U.S. Navy)