Rep. Ron DeSantis, a Florida Republican and decorated military veteran, is less than thrilled at reports that President Donald Trump is considering cuts in the U.S. Coast Guard budget to help pay for the building of a U.S.-Mexico border wall.
"I would obviously need to see details. I'm a Navy guy, but I'm a big supporter of our Coast Guard," DeSantis, an Iraq War veteran, Bronze Star recipient, and lieutenant commander in the U.S. Naval Reserve, said Wednesday to Steve Malzberg on Newsmax TV's "America Talks Live.
"I think that they serve an important function and especially given . . . [that] Donald Trump for over the last 30 years has probably stressed interdicting narcotics and drugs coming in our country more than any presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan.
"Preventing those drugs coming over the southern border is important but the Coast Guard, they play a very key role in prohibiting narcotics from coming into the United States. So a state like Florida, it's all done through the seas and our Coast Guard folks are on the front line of that."
See Steve Malzberg on Newsmax TV: Tune in beginning at 12 PM EDT to see "America Talks Live" — on FiOS 615, YouTube Livestream, Newsmax TV App from any smartphone, NewsmaxTV.com, Roku, Amazon Fire — More Systems Here
Despite his misgivings, DeSantis said he looked at the Pentagon and "I think Trump has been right when he's pointed to some of these programs that have just gone way over budget."
On Tuesday, The Washington Post reported that the Trump administration was looking to help pay for the border wall with cutbacks at a slew of agencies, including the Coast Guard, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Transportation Security Administration.
The newspaper said an Office of Management and Budget proposal shows the Coast Guard's $9.1 billion 2017 budget slashed by 14 percent to about $7.8 billion, while the TSA and FEMA budgets would be cut about 11 percent each to $4.5 billion and $3.6 billion, respectively.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.