Trump to unveil first budget on March 13, says will clean up financial mess

Washington: Capitol Hill Republicans say the White House is planning to submit President Donald Trump's budget plan to Congress in mid-March.

GOP aides say the plan is due on March 14. They're expecting Trump's blueprint to contain fewer details than is typical since it's a new administration and Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney was only confirmed last week.

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he has inherited a financial "mess" which he will clean up and his first budget would address the priorities of the country.

"Unfortunately, the budget that we are inheriting, essentially inheriting, is a mess. The finances of our country are a mess, but we are going to clean them up," Trump said in his remarks at a meeting on budget preparations.

"Things that we have been doing, including negotiating deals that have already been negotiated, so you call it renegotiating, on airplanes and lots of other things, military items. We will end up either getting many more planes free, or we are going to save a lot of money, but we have already saved billions and billions of dollars have been saved," he said.

Trump said his administration has enormous work to do as the national debt doubled over the last eight years.

"Our debt has doubled over a short period of time. I want the American people to know that our budget will reflect their priorities," he said.

"We will be directing all of our departments and agencies to protect every last American and every last tax dollar. No more wasted money. We are going to be spending the money in a very, very careful manner," Trump said.

The President said his moral duty to the taxpayer requires him to make his administration leaner and more accountable. "We must do a lot more with less. And we must stop the improper payments, end the abuses, negotiate better prices, and look for every last dollar of saving," he said.

"We have already imposed hiring freezes on non-essential government workers, and part of our commitment is to continue to do that for the American taxpayer. We have appointed a Cabinet that knows how to manage dollars wisely," Trump said.

He reiterated that his budget would reflect his priorities to strengthen the military.