Thursday, 17 April 2025

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth Says $1 Trillion Budget “Coming Soon”

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U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said the department will soon have a $1 trillion budget.

“Thank you Mr. President! COMING SOON: the first TRILLION dollar @DeptofDefense budget,” Hegseth said.

“President @realDonaldTrump is rebuilding our military — and FAST. (PS: we intend to spend every taxpayer dollar wisely — on lethality and readiness),” he added.

Hegseth’s comments follow President Trump saying his administration “essentially approved” a budget “in the facility” of $1 trillion during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“We have to build our military. We’re very cost conscious, but the military is something we have to build. We have to be strong,” Trump said.

WATCH:

Per Military Times:

White House officials are expected to reveal their full budget plan for fiscal 2026 — which begins on Oct. 1 — later this spring.

Republicans in Congress have pushed for years for boosts in defense spending to counter growing overseas threats and operational demands.

But they have also called for cuts in overall government spending to balance the federal budget, and for tax relief for some Americans. Increasing defense spending will complicate those calculations, and likely add to the federal deficit unless sharp cuts are made to non-defense programs.

Democratic lawmakers have objected to those kinds of cuts, but have limited options in blocking budget moves because they are in the minority in both the House and Senate.

Even with the increase, an American military budget of $1 trillion still would not match Trump’s stated goal of all NATO countries spending 5% of their gross domestic product on defense.

From POLITICO:

The number would be a significant increase from the $892 billion funding Congress allocated for national defense programs this year, which includes the Pentagon, nuclear weapons development and security programs at other agencies. It also comes as the armed services seeks to cut 8 percent of their individual budgets and reinvest the money in modernization efforts.

Hegseth is also planning to slash tens of thousands of department civilian employees across the globe as the Pentagon starts work on what is expected to include consolidation of domestic and overseas bases.

Their comments came as a surprise since the rollout of the federal budget isn’t expected until late May.

Trump did not specify if the $1 trillion would be solely for the Pentagon or the overall national defense budget, which includes other agencies. But national defense spending was already projected to exceed $900 billion in the upcoming budget.


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