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The
$716 billion would cover the Pentagon's annual budget as well as
spending on ongoing wars and the maintenance of the U.S. nuclear
arsenal. The 2018 budget still has not passed through Congress,
the U.S. officials said on condition of anonymity.
One of the officials said the request would closely follow the
priorities unveiled by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Friday in
the National Defense Strategy.
Mattis put countering China and Russia at the center of the new
National Defense Strategy.
The Pentagon's unclassified, 11-page version of the National
Defense Strategy did not provide details on how the shift
towards countering China and Russia would be carried out, but
defense spending requests were expected to reflect that aim.
The U.S. military's competitive edge has eroded "in every domain
of warfare" Mattis said, partly because of inconsistent funding.
Congress voted on Monday to end a three-day U.S. government
shutdown, approving the latest short-term funding bill as
Democrats accepted promises from Republicans for a broad debate
later on the future of young illegal immigrants.
The Washington Post published the figures for the president's
budget request earlier on Friday afternoon.
(Reporting by Idrees Ali and Mohammad Zargham; editing by David
Alexander and Cynthia Osterman)
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