Trump Seeks Historic $1.5 Trillion for Military in Congress Budget Request

Trump Requests Largest Military Budget in Decades

United States President Donald Trump has asked for a nearly 40 percent increase in military spending over last year in his annual budget request, which totals $1.5 trillion. This request is the largest in decades and comes with cuts to domestic programmes.

The heightened spending, according to the document, aims to ‘advance President Trump’s delivery of peace through strength by reinvesting in the foundations of American military power’.

The budget is expected to be the subject of lengthy congressional negotiations in the weeks to come. The $1.5 trillion request involves an increase of about $455bn over fiscal year 2026.

The budget outline includes a proposed $73bn in cuts to domestic programmes, including initiatives to counter climate change and boost renewable energy, as well as programmes meant to assure equality and access in housing, education, and healthcare.

Funding for refugee resettlement and aid programmes are also slated to be pared down. Instead, funding would be used to build Trump’s Golden Dome missile defence system, invest in critical minerals, boost US shipbuilding, and raise salaries for US troops.

Critics have warned that the move could lead to inconsistent funding and possible shortages. Trump has underscored his desire to grow the US military, while shifting some federal programmes, including the Medicaid and Medicare healthcare programmes, to the states.

US military expenditures have ticked up in recent decades, climbing from about $320bn in 2000 to $997bn in 2024. The US regularly spends more on its military than the total of the next nine countries combined.

The budget request also calls for continued funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its subsidiary agency, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), to support his mass deportation campaign.

The request also calls for a 13 percent increase for the Department of Justice, which the White House said would focus on violent crime, and a $10bn fund within the National Park Service for beautification projects in the capital, Washington, DC.