$1.5T in military spending…Trump Proposes Massive Increase in Defense Spending

President Trump on Wednesday proposed raising U.S. military spending to $1.5 trillion in 2027, citing what he called “troubled and dangerous times.”

The proposal comes just days after Trump ordered a U.S. military operation targeting Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, who was seized and removed from the country to face drug trafficking charges in the United States, according to the Associated Press. The current military budget for 2026 stands at $901 billion.

In recent days, Trump has also floated the idea of the United States taking control of Greenland for national security reasons and has indicated he is open to conducting military operations in Colombia. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has also warned that longtime U.S. adversary Cuba “is in trouble.”

“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 wrote in a post on Truth Social announcing the proposal. He said the $1.5 trillion figure followed “long and difficult negotiations with Senators, Congressmen, Secretaries, and other Political Representatives.”

The military already received an additional $175 billion through the GOP’s “big, beautiful bill” of tax cuts and spending reductions that Trump signed into law last year. Further increases in Pentagon funding are expected to face resistance from Democrats, who often argue that defense and non-defense spending should rise together. Some Republicans, particularly deficit-focused lawmakers, have also expressed concern about sharply higher military spending.

Trump said he is comfortable with the proposed increase because of revenue generated by tariffs his administration has imposed on both allies and adversaries since his return to office. He argued that tariff revenue would cover the cost of the expansion. The New York Times disputes that claim, noting that while the U.S. collected more than $200 billion in tariff revenue last year, Trump has pledged to return much of that money to Americans affected by the tariffs, including farmers, and has promised $2,000 tariff rebate checks for most Americans.

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