Trump Plans To Add $54 Billion To Defense Budget. How Much Can That Buy?

The Trump administration is reportedly proposing to add an extra $54 billion to the Pentagon budget. NPR takes a look at how much $54 can billion buy.

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

That number, $54 billion, is one of those unwieldy sort of unfathomable figures that can be hard to wrap your brain around. So we wanted to give a little context for what you can buy with that kind of money.

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

For one, you could get four new Ford-class aircraft carriers. It's also about how much the DOD and the state department requested for operations in Afghanistan and Syria this year.

SHAPIRO: Fifty-four billion is also about how much it would take to pay for universal preschool for three and four year olds according to one Columbia University professor.

CORNISH: It could also cover all the costs for the Seattle area's ambitious new plan to expand their light rail and bus system.

SHAPIRO: Or it could buy a top-of-the-line jet ski for every man woman and child in the state of Nevada.

CORNISH: If you insist on spreading the $54 billion around, you could just cut a check $461 to every household in the U.S.

SHAPIRO: It is not quite one Mark Zuckerberg, though.

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