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By Khaleda Rahman and Shane Croucher
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President Donald Trump has said his administration will raise the Pentagon's budget to $1 trillion, a record high for the U.S. military.
"We have to build our military and we're very cost-conscious, but the military is something that we have to build," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday. "And we have to be strong because you've got a lot of bad forces out there now."
Newsweek has contacted the White House and the Department of Defense for comment via emails sent outside regular business hours.
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Why It Matters
The new amount would be significantly more than the $892.5 billion that Congress allocated for defense this year.
It comes after it was reported in February that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directed senior leaders at the Pentagon to develop plans for cutting 8 percent of the defense budget in each of the next five years. The Pentagon is also planning to cut between 50,000 and 60,000 civilian employees as part of cuts in spending and personnel driven by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency.
What To Know
Speaking at a press event with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump said his administration would approve a budget that will be "the biggest one we've ever done for the military."
It was not clear if the $1 trillion amount would be for the Pentagon alone or if it was the overall national defense budget, which includes other agencies.
Hegseth followed Trump's comments with a post on X that said: "COMING SOON: the first TRILLION dollar @DeptofDefense budget."
He added that every taxpayer dollar would be spent "wisely" on "lethality and readiness."
What People Are Saying
President Donald Trump told reporters on Monday: "Nobody's seen anything like it. We have to build our military and we're very cost-conscious, but the military is something that we have to build. And we have to be strong because you've got a lot of bad forces out there now. So we're going to be approving a budget and I'm proud to say actually, the biggest one we've ever done for the military."
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote on his personal X account on Monday: "Thank you Mr. President! COMING SOON: the first TRILLION dollar @DeptofDefense budget. President @realDonaldTrump is rebuilding our military — and FAST. (PS: we intend to spend every taxpayer dollar wisely — on lethality and readiness).
Stephen Semler, co-founder of the Security Policy Reform Institute, a U.S. foreign policy think tank, wrote on X: "Trump plans on liquidating Medicaid and SNAP benefits while giving the Pentagon a trillion dollars. If @TheDemocrats can't make a coherent political message out of these basic facts, they're not an opposition party, or even a party."
What's Next
It is not clear exactly when the Trump administration will release the budget request for the 2026 fiscal year. A blueprint is not expected until later in the spring.
Update 4/8/25, 4:10 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
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