Well - that might explain it

So, we know most Leftists want a smaller US military, and a smaller role for the USA on the global stage as a result, right?

We all understand that most on the USA political Left want to increase "entitlement" spending in the Federal budget in order to create more guv'munt'l dependency and therefore buy votes with borrowed money, therefore building power to themselves as creatures of the guv'munt, correct?

The President is of the Left, that we can agree - correct?

Big deficits get you rapid inflation and a falling dollar, correct? In the end, you have to defend the value of the dollar in order to have others keep buying your debt, correct?

The method to his madness?

Going forward, to defend the dollar, Washington will need to control inflation through some combination of budget cuts, tax increases and interest rate hikes. Given that the last two options would choke off renewed growth, the least unpalatable choice is to reduce federal spending. This will mean radically scaling back defense expenditures, because discretionary nondefense spending accounts for only about 20% of annual federal outlays. This in turn will mean a radical diminution of America's overseas military commitments, transforming both geopolitics and the international economy.