US President Donald Trump vetoes US defense bill

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday vetoed a $740 billion (€606 billion) defense spending bill that passed Congress this month.

Trump objected to provisions that limit troop withdrawals from Afghanistan and Europe and remove Confederate leaders' names from military bases.

He also wanted it to repeal a liability shield for social media companies.

Lawmakers passed the measure with an overwhelming majority and could override the president's rejection.

Bills passed by Congress need a president's signature to become law. But a president may choose to veto or reject legislation because of some policy disagreement.

Lawmakers can override a presidential veto by mustering two-thirds of votes in both chambers of Congress, allowing the bill to become law anyway.

If Congress does not override Trump's veto in this case it would be the first time in 60 years that theNational Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) does not become law.

Trump called the 4,500-page act a "gift to China and Russia".

The president also said the bill's measures to limit bringing troops home was "not only ... bad policy, but it is unconstitutional."

Ahead of Wednesday's veto, some of the outgoing president's advisers had cautioned him against rejecting the bill, as he is expected to be overruled by Congress.

Trump has previously vetoed eight bills, which were all upheld with support from his fellow Republicans in Congress.

He is due to leave office on 20 January, when he will be replaced by Democrat Joe Biden.

The defense bill sets the Pentagon's policy.It also determines decisions affecting weapons, personnel, troop deployments and other security measures. A number of military initiatives will stall if the bill does not become law.

This year's measure also contains a 3% pay raise for active duty troops.

Both the Senate and the House of Represenatives plan to hold an override vote on Trump's veto.

Trump has repeatedly rejected calls to rename bases with ties to leaders of the Confederacy, which is the group of slaveholding southern states that seceded from the Union, sparking the US Civil War.

jf/aw (AP, dpa)