Secretary of state james mattis, who no one would accuse of being soft, said in 2013 that funding to the state department prevents war.  At a national security advisory council meeting, he told members of congress, "if you don't fund the state department fully, then I need to buy more ammunition ultimately.  So I think it's a cost-benefit ratio.  The more that we put into the state department's diplomacy, hopefully the less we have to put into a military budget as we deal with the  outcome of an apparent american withdrawal from the international scene."

So, the question is, will trump listen to his secretary of defense?