President Donald Trump will ask Congress to enact a massive increase in defense spending in a discretionary budget proposal Friday, while also renewing his push for steep cuts to domestic programs.
The budget requests $1.5 trillion in budgetary resources for defense, a significant increase over the $1 trillion sought for fiscal year 2026. The new figure includes $1.1 trillion in base discretionary budget authority for the Department of Defense and $350 billion in additional resources as the US carries out its war on Iran.
Discretionary non defense spending would be cut 10%, by about $73 billion, according to fact sheets circulated by the White House in advance of the annual budget release Friday.
The president's decision to seek a dramatic rise in the Pentagon's budget — the largest single-year increase since World War II — comes as polls indicate he's struggling to convince many Americans of the wisdom of the war in Iran.
The proposal also puts his Capitol Hill allies on the spot, after lawmakers failed to enact the full scope of reductions he sought in his first year back in office, and amid some public backlash to his slash-and-burn efforts to trim the bureaucracy. Taken as a whole, the budget sets up a fierce debate over policies and priorities ahead of November's critical midterm elections.
While Republican lawmakers are not expected to pursue many of the cuts outlined in the document, a defense boost is more likely. Still, the budget serves as an important guidepost for upcoming funding battles and offers investors insight into how the White House is thinking about the nation's economic future.
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