Trump seeks massive defense spending boost in budget request

WASHINGTON (Gray DC) - President Donald Trump asked Congress for the largest defense spending hike in decades on Friday, proposing a 42 percent increase in his annual budget request.

The White House released the request online, calling for roughly $1.5 trillion in defense spending and $73 billion in cuts to non defense domestic programs.

The White House said the budget advances the president’s “delivery of peace through strength by reinvesting in the foundations of American military power.”

It includes funding for the “Golden Dome” missile defense system, “Trump-class” battleships and a pay raise for troops. Funding for the war with Iran was not highlighted in released budget documents.

The proposed cuts would impact housing, health care, education and other programs that the administration has labeled as “woke.” They include grants for training new teachers, multiple National Institutes of Health centers, an environment justice program and a program aiming to prevent teenage pregnancy.

On Wednesday at the White House, the president signaled that the military was his priority.

“We’re fighting wars. We can’t take care of day care,” President Trump said. “You got to let a state take care of daycare and they should pay for it too.”

He later went on to say that “it’s not possible“ for the federal government to pay for daycare, Medicaid and Medicare.

The proposal will now have to be reviewed by Congress.

Many GOP congressional lawmakers largely praised the budget. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said in a statement that it “fulfills Republicans’ commitment to restore fiscal sanity, reduce waste, fraud, and abuse in Washington, make our streets and neighborhoods safe again, and further ignite the American dream. These are the things we ran on and that the American people voted for.”

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) called the budget “truly historic when it comes to defense spending,” in a post on X.

Several Congressional Democrats balked at the request.

Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said in a statement, “The vision President Trump has outlined for America in his budget is bleak and unacceptable… Last year, I said I’d rip up President Trump’s budget and make sure Congress wrote a new one instead—that’s exactly what we did and will do again.”

Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) said the request was “not a serious budget” that was flawed and irresponsible.

Bobby Kogan, Senior Director of Federal Budget Policy at the Center for American Progress and former budget adviser under President Joe Biden, said the proposal will not pass.

“This is not going to become law. It is so extreme and it’s too extreme even for Republicans in Congress,” said Kogan. “You don’t see very often, people saying, we’re going to get rid of your heating assistance, and we’re going to get rid of your housing so we can sink money into the military.”

He also said he believes that the federal government could fund both the defense and domestic programs.

“Even if you truly believe that, that’s what’s necessary for us safety, we can do both. It is easy to do both,” Kogan said. “It is a choice for them to cut domestic spending.”

House and Senate committees will next begin reviewing the president’s budget request.