Trump seeks record defence spending increase of $445bn while pledging to slash budgets elsewhere
If approved, it would take the US defence spending to $1.5tn
Donald Trump is seeking to boost the US defence spending to $1.5tn in a rise which would mark the largest expansion in military spending since World War II.
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If granted by Congress, it would mean the budget will rise by 40 per cent since last year's request and includes funding for the proposed Golden Dome missile defence system - a space-based weapons system to intercept strikes against the US.
According to reports, the request involves an increase of about $445bn over fiscal year 2026 but would be separate from the $200bn that the Pentagon requested for the war in Iran last month.
Trump's administration will reportedly cut spending across climate, housing and education programmes, in order to facilitate the defence boost.
The request describes the proposed cuts to "woke, weaponised and wasteful programmes, and by returning local responsibilities to their respective governments".
Speaking at a private White House event earlier this week, the President reiterated his desire to grow the US military.
He also empathised the desire to shifting some federal programmes, including the Medicaid and Medicare healthcare programmes, to the US.
He said: "We’re fighting wars. We can’t take care of day care.
"It’s not possible for us to take care of day care, Medicaid, Medicare, all these individual things. They can do it on a state basis. You can’t do it on a federal."
It comes less than a month after the White House said it was seeking $200bn (£150bn) more for the war in Iran, which Trump said was needed to replenish ammunition and other supplies depleted by the conflict and previous aid to other nations.
The request, which will rely heavily on Republicans in Congress to pass, suggests $1.1tn of the spending would come from a process known as budget reconciliation - a procedural shortcut that lets some legislation pass the Senate with a simple majority of 51 votes.
The other $350bn could be passed through a mechanism known as reconciliation, which typically can be achieved with a simple majority.
The proposal has been criticised by Democrats including Patty Murray who argued the draft offered a "bleak and unacceptable" view of the country’s priorities.
Issuing a statement, Murray said: "President Trump wants to slash medical research to fund costly foreign wars.
"It doesn’t get more backward than that, and the only responsible thing to do with a budget this morally bankrupt is to toss it in the trash."