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# Live Power Problems Podcast Recording: “All I Want for Christmas is an F‑35: Trump, the Generals and the Defense Budget” 

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Video 

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Date and Time 

December 12, 2017 1 - 2 PM EST 

Location 

Online: http://www.facebook.com/CatoInstitute 

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##### Featuring 

Featuring **Aaron Mehta** ([@AaronMehta](http://www.twitter.com/aaronmehta)), Senior Pentagon Correspondent and Deputy Editor, *Defense News*; **Emma Ashford** ([@EmmaMAshford](http://www.twitter.com/emmamashford)), Research Fellow, Cato Institute; and **A. Trevor Thrall** ([@Trevor\_Thrall](http://www.twitter.com/trevor_thrall)), Senior Fellow, Cato Institute 

[![Media Name: power_problems_live-min.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/optimized/public/images/power_problems_live-min.jpg?itok=hRSSv6mw)](/sites/cato.org/files/images/power_problems_live-min.jpg) 

How is the Pentagon faring under the Trump administration? More than many administrations, the Trump administration seems determined to rely on the Department of Defense as the primary tool of U.S. foreign policy. With the President’s open acclaim for his ‘generals,’ the Pentagon looms large in today’s U.S. foreign policy. Yet the new administration’s policies also create questions about the future of U.S. defense policy, from increased deployments in the Middle East to ongoing debate over the defense budget.

Join us for a live taping of our new foreign policy podcast, [Power Problems](https://www.cato.org/multimedia/power-problems), where Cato’s own Trevor Thrall and Emma Ashford offer a skeptical take on U.S. foreign policy and discuss some of today’s big questions with guests from across the political spectrum. In this episode, they sit down with Aaron Mehta, Senior Pentagon correspondent at *Defense News* to discuss a variety of defense-related issues.

This is an online only event.

Follow [@CatoFP](http://www.twitter.com/CatoFP) and join the conversation on Twitter with [\#FPPowerProblems](http://www.twitter.com/hashtag/FPPowerProblems).

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