Clinton slams Trump’s budget: It’s ‘a grave mistake for our country’

Hillary Clinton warned Friday that President Donald Trump’s proposed budget is “a blow to women and children and a grave mistake” for America.

Speaking at Georgetown University — where the former secretary of state and Democratic presidential nominee presented four Hillary Rodham Clinton Awards for Advancing Women in Peace and Security — Clinton made veiled references to the current administration and went directly after the president’s budget. While it calls for a $54 billion boost in defense spending, it cuts deeply into the State Department and guts environmental and housing programs. The budget is unlikely to be approved by Congress.


“We are seeing signals of a shift that should alarm us all,” Clinton said. “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.”

Trump’s budget outline for fiscal year 2018 would slash the budget for the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development by nearly 29 percent. Clinton highlighted a letter signed by more than 120 retired generals and admirals last month asking the White House and Congress not to “put our men and women in uniform in harm’s way” by cutting funding for the State Department and diplomacy programs.

“These distinguished men and women who served in uniform recognize that turning our back on diplomacy won’t make our country safer,” Clinton said. “It will undermine our security and our standing in the world. Defense Secretary Mattis said it well when he said if you cut funds to the State Department, that means he has to buy more ammunition.”

Clinton was referring to a statement Mattis made in 2013, which the retired military officials also referenced in their letter.

Clinton’s remarks — she spoke for about 20 minutes — largely centered on the topic at hand: the role of women in international politics and peace-building efforts. But she was greeted with fierce applause and chants of “Hillary! Hillary!” as she took the stage.

“Wow, let’s do that again,” she joked. “This warm welcome is one of the many reasons that I always appreciate coming to this campus, to this great university, and I am so pleased to have a chance to talk with you today.”

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Calling the advancement of women and girls’ rights and full participation “the great unfinished business of the 21st century,” Clinton praised the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security, which hosted the event, for its work, saying she is inspired but not surprised at how far it has come.

“As this institute has grown, so, too has the body of evidence showing that when women participate in peacemaking and peacekeeping, we are all safer and more secure. Studies show — here I go again, talking about research, evidence and facts,” she said, making reference to her emphasis on facts and pragmatism during the presidential campaign and garnering more applause. “But, in fact, when women are included in peace negotiations, agreements are less likely to fail and more likely to last.”

Clinton seemed to take a dig at White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, who coined the term “alternative facts” to defend the administration’s inaccurate claim that Trump’s inauguration crowd was larger than former President Barack Obama’s.

“Now, before anybody jumps to any conclusions, I will state clearly: Women are not inherently more peaceful than men. That is a stereotype. That belongs in the alternative …,” she said, pausing for emphasis, “reality.”