Arnold Schwarzenegger: Trump's proposed budget will end up hurting kids, "robbing them blind"

During a speech on Wednesday, Schwarzenegger blasted the president’s proposed cuts to after-school funding

Published April 6, 2017 12:49AM (EDT)

Arnold Schwarzenegger; Donald Trump   (Getty/Quinn Rooney/Mandel Ngan/Photo montage by Salon)
Arnold Schwarzenegger; Donald Trump (Getty/Quinn Rooney/Mandel Ngan/Photo montage by Salon)

Arnold Schwarzenegger has no problem making his anger toward Donald Trump known. During a speech on Wednesday, Schwarzenegger blasted the president’s proposed cuts to after-school funding.

The “New Celebrity Apprentice” host and former California governor criticized Trump’s plans at the National After-School Summit. He said the slashed budget would end up harming kids and “robbing them blind.”

“President Trump promised us that he wants to ‘make America great again.’ That’s not how you make America great — by taking $1.2 billion away from the children and robbing them blind. Why would he do that? Why would he want to balance the budget on the backs of those kids? Kids are the most vulnerable citizens.”

Trump’s 2018 federal budget proposal allows for additional defense spending and increased funds for border security, including his infamous wall between Mexico and the United States. In an effort to add financial resources to these areas, Trump hopes to cut almost $3 billion from education programs and $1.2 billion from a grant program that funds after-school education.

Schwarzenegger, addressing the “terminators” in the crowd, promised to put up a fight in Washington to stop Trump’s plan from becoming reality.

“When I look at you, I see a bunch of warriors. We’re going to go to Washington, and we’re not going to take this lying down.”

The politician-turned-actor also acknowledged the important role Congress plays in passing the budget. He urged Americans and media to stop “complaining in front of your television set” and act. “Congress has a 15-percent approval rating, which is below herpes or colonoscopies,” he joked. “But 98 percent of them get re-elected.”

This is hardly the first time Schwarzenegger and Trump have gone head to head. Trump, who hosted “Celebrity Apprentice” for years, has publicly criticized Schwarzenegger and blamed him for the new show’s low ratings.


By Tatiana Baez

Tatiana Baez is mostly Salon's social media coordinator, but she also writes here and elsewhere. She lives in Brooklyn and tweets.

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Arnold Schwarzenegger Donald Trump Education Federal Budget