In an act of defiance, President Donald Trump on Wednesday vetoed the $740.5 billion U.S. defense policy bill after Congress refused to include language that would abolish liability protections for technology companies, including Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc, Axios reports.
“Unfortunately, the Act fails to include critical national security measures, includes provisions that fail to respect our veterans and our military’s history, and contradicts efforts by my Administration to put America first in our national security and foreign policy actions,” Trump said in a statement.
Trump’s action comes despite the fact that the House and Senate passed the bill with veto-proof majorities. It’s unclear if the same number of lawmakers that voted to pass the bill would vote to overturn a Trump veto.
He called the bill a “gift” to China and Russia. But in reality, he wants to be able to sue both Twitter and Facebook for flagging his conspiracy posts.
Trump also opposes legislation in the bill that proposes renaming 10 military installations currently named after Confederate leaders.
