United States President Donald Trump and British and French allies elected to target the Bashar al-Assad regime in strikes on Friday, April 13. In a little over a week since President Trump had hinted that U.S. forces should pull out of Syria with ISIS nearing annihilation, U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley has said that forces will not leave until “goals” are met. One of these primary goals includes acting as a check against Iranian influence, which could keep American troops in Syria indefinitely.
President Trump also signed through a controversial omnibus spending bill that will raise the military budget to $700 billion in 2018 and over $715 billion in 2019. The appointment of notorious hawk John Bolton to national security advisor and Mike Pompeo to secretary of state appears to signal a more aggressive geopolitical path for the U.S. Nikki Haley had promised further sanctions today, but the White House has walked back this announcement.
Raytheon Company (NYSE:RTN) offers contractual services to the U.S. defense sector. Shares of Raytheon were up 1.64% in early afternoon trading on April 16. Raytheon stock has climbed 18.1% in 2018 so far. Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE:LMT) stock was also up 1.09% in early afternoon trading. Both contractors stand to gain from increased military spending, which has emerged as a bipartisan stance.
As for the conflict in Syria, the U.S. is unlikely to withdraw entirely from what has developed into one of the deadliest conflicts since the end of the Cold War.
