Trump reportedly will make it easier for America to export lethal drones

President Trump will loosen rules governing the export of lethal drones to U.S. allies, Reuters reports, and may announce these changes as soon as this month.

The president has been lobbied by American drone manufacturers, who say foreign rivals are beating them on the international market thanks to fewer restrictions in their home countries, like China and Israel. Trump is expected to cast the change as a feature of his "Buy American" campaign, which also includes his steel and aluminum tariffs plan. Though rules may not be changed for the Predator drone, the white craft that has become the face of the U.S. drone war, sources told Reuters that both surveillance craft and smaller drones that carry fewer missiles over shorter distances will be affected.

In recent years Washington has only approved armed drone sales to the United Kingdom and Italy, but potential buyers under the new rules include South Korea, Japan, Australia, and India, as well as Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, plus NATO allies and "many of the 35 signatories to the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR)."

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Read The Week's Peter Weber on whether U.S. drone strikes amount to war crimes.