Overview

• On August 10, retired Air Force historian William J. Astore published a critique arguing that President Trump’s second term has fostered moral and constitutional decline.
• Astore highlights record trillion-dollar war budgets that abandon Trump’s budget-cutting promises in favor of a profit-driven military posture.
• He criticizes unilateral airstrikes ordered without Congressional approval, including a 12-day assault on Iranian nuclear sites in June.
• His analysis notes that U.S. air campaigns in Gaza, Yemen and Somalia have accelerated to rival four years of prior administrations in just five months.
• Astore warns that arms sales to authoritarian regimes and a defense leadership exalting a warrior ethos have eroded moral values in U.S. wartime conduct.