President Trump often boasts about his enthusiasm for robust Pentagon spending — now at more than $700 billion annually — and argues it should be even higher in the future.

Yet he seemed quite comfortable this week desperately raiding the defense budget for the second time to deliver on his thwarted campaign promise to build a wall along the Mexican border. You know, the one Mexico was going to pay for.

Under a claim of emergency powers, Mr. Trump will divert, for new c onstruction and replacement of existing barriers , $3.6 billion in military construction funds affecting 127 projects in nearly half of the 50 states, three territories and 19 foreign countries. Mr. Trump had previously redirected $2.5 billion in Pentagon funds for the wall under a complex arrangement that didn’t require him to claim emergency powers.

In discussing his intentions to transfer Pentagon funds, Mr. Trump said in February that he had asked generals what the money was supposed to be used for. “I won’t go into details,” he said, “but it didn’t sound too important to me.” So much for crucial military spending.