As Trump Begs for Votes in New Mexico, He’s Costing State Critical Military Funding
September 17th 2019
President Donald J. Trump hosts a White House ceremony (U.S. Secretary of Defense)
With Donald Trump traveling to Rio Rancho, New Mexico tonight to beg for votes in a laughable attempt to spin that he can win the state, here’s a helpful reminder that the president is redirecting $125 million in critical funds for Department of Defense projects in the state to pay for his border wall.
The diverted funds include $85 million “designated to upgrade for critical training facilities” at New Mexico’s Holloman Air Force Base as well as “$40 million to fix the damaged systems facility at White Sands Missile Range” as reported by KRQE.
Holloman Air Force Base supports over 10,000 people in the state including Active Duty Officers and Enlisted Personnel, military families, retirees, and civilian employees. According to the Western Regional Partnership, the base has a yearly economic impact of $482.1 million.
White Sands Missile Range has a population of close to 6,000 including Active Duty Military Personnel, families, and civilians. It also has an estimated daily impact of $4.7 million per day to the local economy according to the Western Regional Partnership.
“Donald Trump is absolutely desperate to make people think he can win New Mexico, but it’s clear for voters to see that across the board, his policies are an absolute disaster for the state,” said American Bridge spokesperson Jeb Fain. “No amount of his raving tonight is going to make New Mexico voters forget that this president is dead set on draining needed funding for the state’s military facilities to pay for his pointless, racist border wall.”
Posted with permission