U.S. House boosts military spending, gives Trump border wall money

A worker stands next to a newly built section of the U.S.-Mexico border fence at Sunland Park, U.S. opposite the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico January 25, 2017. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday approved a $68 billion increase in military spending next year with legislation that also provides money to start construction of President Donald Trump's Mexican border wall.

The bill increased spending on the U.S. capability to defend itself from foreign missile attacks amid growing concerns about North Korea's increasing capacity to hit the United States with a nuclear-tipped missile after it successfully tested an intercontinental ballistic missile in July.