President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegses have vowed to raise the Pentagon budget to more than $1 trillion for the first time.
Speaking to reporters with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump said this year’s budget would be “nearly” $1 trillion.
“Comes Soon: First Trillion Dollar @DeptofDefense Budget,” Hegseth posted on X.
He said Trump is “rebuilding our troops – and fast.”
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Defense Secretary Pete Hegses said the $1 budget would “fastly” rebuild the troops. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
The budget for all national security programs, including the Department of Defense, nuclear weapons development and other security agencies, is $892 billion this year.
Moving to the $1 trillion Pentagon budget will increase by 12% at current levels.
But the idea of a $1 trillion budget is the same as the Pentagon has now cut 8% each year from each program to reinvest in modernization for five years. The sector is also planning to cut tens of thousands of people from the private workforce and consolidate bases around the world.
“We’re going to approve the budget. In fact, we’re proud of the biggest thing we’ve ever done for the military,” he said. “A trillion dollars. No one has seen anything like that.
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Speaking to reporters with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump said this year’s budget would be “nearly” $1 trillion. (Reuters/Kevin Mohatt)
“We have a very powerful army. There is something under order now.”
White House officials are expected to announce budget proposals for fiscal year 2026 later this spring before Congress lifts its spending process.
Even a trillion dollar budget did not put the US on the targets Trump countries stated for NATO countries to spend on defense: 5%.
President Donald Trump is looking at the image of the sixth generation F-47 fighter jet in an oval office in the White House. (Reuters/Carlos Barrier)
However, the president said the cash inflow would be used to start production of new equipment and technologies.
“We never had the type of aircraft, the type of missile, what we ordered,” he said. “And in many ways, it’s just too bad that we have to do that.
The Trump administration recently announced a Boeing contract for the F-47, the Air Force’s sixth generation fighter jet. This is expected to cost the Services Branch around $20 billion between 2025 and 2029.
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“We know all the other planes,” Trump said. “I’ve seen all of them, but it’s not even close. This is the next level.”
The announcement regarding the Navy’s next-generation fighter aircraft, F/A-XX, has been suspended, but Navy Operations Chief James Kirby told reporters Monday that it was happening at “secretary level or above.”
