Trump proposes "historic" defense budget - Targets 10% cuts in other federal programs
President Donald Trump called for a 10% cut in non-defense spending for fiscal year 2027 and a massive $500 billion increase in the military budget as the US continues its war against Iran.
The 2027 budget request comes at a time when the president faces dangerous choices abroad, with the administration sending American service members to the Middle East and a weary public at home feeling the economic blow of skyrocketing gas prices due to the conflict.
The request requires approval from Congress, where disagreement over Trump's spending decisions recently led to the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. The proposed massive increase in defense spending to $1.5 trillion, from about $1 trillion in 2026, includes a 5% to 7% pay increase for military personnel at a time when thousands of service members are actively deployed.
The White House said this defense funding approaches "historic increases just before World War II." The large request contrasts with the more skeptical view Trump held toward military spending in his first term, when he once even called the funding level "insane."
Trump came to office vowing to cut federal spending and curb the nation's growing budget deficit, bringing in the world's richest person, Elon Musk, to lead an effort that took about 300,000 people off the federal payroll.
Despite this, the country's deficit, the gap between the amount of money the federal government takes in and how much it spends, has continued to widen, with the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projecting a deficit of $1.853 trillion in the fiscal year ending September 30, deeper than last year's $1.775 trillion.
The nation's $39.016 trillion debt has continued to grow under both Republican and Democratic administrations, in part because most political battles over spending revolve around the amount that Congress directly controls, roughly a quarter of the budget known as "discretionary spending."
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