Trump launches effort to boost U.S. weapons sales abroad

The Trump administration rolled out a long-awaited overhaul of U.S. arms export policy on Thursday aimed at expanding sales to allies, saying it will bolster the American defense industry and create jobs at home. The White House aims to cut the time it takes to approve arms deals, lowering the hurdle to bigger sales and sales of more powerful weapons, and increasing the role of senior U.S. officials in shepherding deals across the finish line, as earlier reported by Reuters. The initiative builds on President Donald Trump's efforts to personally boost arms sales on calls with foreign heads of state.