Il aurait pu avoir des critiques à formuler, mais je savais qu'en étant présent, il pourrait expliquer en détail, à ceux qui voudraient le savoir, quel effet le budget aura sur les forces armées, au cours des transformations qu'il pilotera.
He might have had some criticism to say about it, but I was confident that, because of his presence, he would be able to explain, to those who wanted to know, the details of how it would affect the forces as he goes ahead in the course of transforming it.