# Multimedia 

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Events • December 13, 2017 

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

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.

[![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) 
This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/). 

##### Featuring 

##### Aaron Mehta 

[![Emma Ashford New](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2025-07/emma-ashford-new.jpg?itok=IOYhTao_)](/people/emma-ashford) 

##### [Emma Ashford](/people/emma-ashford)

Senior Fellow, Stimson Center

[ 

](https://twitter.com/EmmaMAshford) 

[![Media Name: thrall-cropped.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/authors/crops/thrall-cropped.jpg?itok=z4kJ8rE_)](/people/trevor-thrall) 

##### [A. Trevor Thrall](/people/trevor-thrall)

Former Senior Fellow, Defense and Foreign Policy Department, Cato Institute

[ 

](http://www.twitter.com/trevor_thrall)