WASHINGTON (TNND) — President Donald Trump proposed giving the Pentagon a 50% raise on its nearly $1 trillion budget in 2027 to bulk up the military in what he described as “troubled and dangerous times.”
Trump did not provide details on what new pursuits the money would be used for but said the money would pay for a “Dream Military” in the Truth Social post announcing the request. He has pushed for the U.S. to build its own Golden Dome air defense system and remake battleship designs, neither of which are fully funded at current levels.
A $1.5 trillion military budget would be a substantial boost to the Pentagon’s resources from the 2026 figure of $901 billion. The military’s budget got a $175 billion increase in Republicans’ tax and spending bill last year, though most of the funds are being spent on long-term projects and wasn’t enough to keep up with inflation.
“This will allow us to build the ‘Dream Military’ that we have long been entitled to and, more importantly, that will keep us SAFE and SECURE, regardless of foe,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
Trump’s call for a massive influx of resources for the military comes after the operation to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro with forces still gathered in the Caribbean to enforce a blockade on oil exports. He and other administration officials have also renewed calls for the U.S. to acquire the Danish territory of Greenland and have not ruled out using the military to do so in a development that has caused alarm within Europe and the NATO military alliance.
The United States’ existing budget already dwarfs all other countries, with China having the second-largest military budget in the world at $245 billion. But raw spending totals are not perfect comparisons, as countries like China have lower labor costs for production and troops compared to the U.S. that make budgets stretch further.
“We’re got people flying planes and floating ships that are decades and decades old,” said Mark Chandler, former director of Defense Intelligence Agency’s Middle East and Africa Center and professor at Coastal Carolina University. “The critical thing is, Russia’s not slowing down on its defense spending, China is not slowing down. China has surpassed the United States as a threat in their military capability while we’ve been reaping the low investment in defense. You’ve got to reinvest to ensure your future security. It’s sticker shock when you do that.”
The U.S. is behind on its goals for upgrading its fleets of jets, ships and other vessels, many of which have been in operation for decades and nearing need of replacements. America also sells or provides missiles, jets and other military weaponry to allies around the world, spreading limited industrial capacity thin.
Trump has also advocated for more military spending among allies within NATO, arguing the United States’ European counterparts have leaned too heavily on American might for their own security. The bloc approved a plan last year to increase military spending to 5% of GDP by 2035 at Trump’s behest that his proposed infusion with cash would push the U.S. closer to meeting.
The $1.5 trillion request also came after he issued an executive order directing the Pentagon to review defense contractors that are underperforming on contract fulfillment or investing in expanding manufacturing capacity but are still doing stock buybacks or distributing dividends to shareholders. Trump has frequently targeted defense companies for being behind on deliveries of weaponry and cast blame on compensation packages for executives and dividends.
“We have to overhaul our defense industrial base at the same time,” Chandler said. “We don’t have as many plants producing the sophisticated aircraft and weapon systems that we need at the rate that we need to use them.”
How to finance such a large and sustained boost to defense spending is a major question facing the White House and lawmakers to make the plans become reality.
Trump said the jump in military spending would be covered by revenue from his tariffs, but they are not bringing in enough revenue to backstop such a big jump to the Pentagon. The president has also already said the revenue would be spent on relief for farmers hurt by trade wars, rebate checks for Americans and to pay down the national debt.
The government collected more than $200 billion in revenue from Trump’s tariffs in 2025, a significant boost from prior years but also short of covering all the costs for the proposals he has made for the new funds.
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, which advocates for lower deficits, estimates fulfilling the president’s request would add $5.8 trillion to the national debt with interest by 2035. Tariffs would cover about half that cost if revenue continues at the current pace — far from a sure thing with the possibility of the Supreme Court ruling many of them illegal in a looming decision.
Finding new funds to cover such a large increase to military spending could prove difficult in Congress as lawmakers face a ballooning deficit and little appetite to raise taxes, but Republicans have been supportive of bulking up defense spending.
“This historic level of investment is what we need to deliver PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH. As our adversaries race to develop new technologies and build capabilities to challenge the United States, this strengthens our national defense and ensures America’s military remains the most dominant fighting force in the world,” Rep. Mike Rogers, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said in a statement.
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