Washington– Washington (AFP) – President Donald Trump The United States on Wednesday proposed capping US military spending at $1.5 trillion in 2027, citing “troubled and dangerous times.”
Trump called for a massive increase in spending days after he ordered spending cuts US military operation to arrest Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro He was taken out of the country to face drug smuggling charges in the United States. US forces continue to build up in the Caribbean Sea.
Determine the military budget for 2026 With a value of $901 billion.
Trump also called for this in recent days Seizure of the Danish territory of Greenland For reasons related to national security, he indicated that he was open to conducting military operations in Colombia. Secretary of State Marco Rubio ominously warned that old enemy Cuba is “in trouble.”
“This will allow us to build the ‘Dream Army’ to which we have long been entitled, and most importantly, it will keep us safe and secure, no matter the enemy,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social announcing his proposal.
The military just received a major boost of about $175 billion from the Republican Party budget “Big and nice bill” Of the tax breaks and spending cuts that Trump signed into law last year.
Insisting on more funding for the Pentagon will almost certainly face resistance from Democrats working to maintain parity between changes in defense and non-defense spending. But it is also certain to raise objections from GOP deficit hawks who have opposed greater military spending.
But Trump said he was comfortable with the increased spending on the military because of the increased revenue his administration has generated through tariffs imposed on friends and enemies around the world since his return to office.
The US government collected total revenues of $288.5 billion last year from Definitions and other indirect taxes, up from $98.3 billion in 2024, according to the bipartisan Policy Center. This is a significant increase in revenue from taxing imports. But that’s not enough to cover the various promises made by Trump, who has said that tariffs could also cover taxpayer profits, pay down the national debt, and now cover increased spending on the military.
Meanwhile, Trump on Wednesday also threatened to cut off Pentagon purchases from Raytheon, one of the largest US defense contractors, if the company does not end the practice of stock buybacks and invest more profits into building its weapons manufacturing capacity.
Trump has complained repeatedly in recent months that defense companies are woefully behind on vital weapons deliveries, yet continue to pay dividends, buy back stock to investors and offer staggering salaries to top executives.
“Either Raytheon steps up and starts investing in more upfront investments like plant and equipment, or they will no longer do business with the War Department,” Trump said on social media. “Also, if Raytheon wants more business with the U.S. government, under no circumstances will it be allowed to do any additional stock buybacks, where it has spent tens of billions of dollars, so they can work together.”
The company is responsible for manufacturing some of the military’s most widely used and best-known missiles, including the Tomahawk cruise missile, the shoulder-launched Javelin and Stinger missiles, and the Sidewinder air-to-air missile.
Raytheon also owns Pratt and Whitney, the company responsible for manufacturing a range of jet engines that power aircraft for all military branches, including the newest F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
On Wall Street, defense contractor stocks fell, with Northrop Grumman falling 5.5%, Lockheed Martin falling 4.8%, and RTX, the parent company of Raytheon, falling 2.5%.
Raytheon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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AP writers Josh Bock, Stephen Groves, Paul Harloff and Lisa Mascaro contributed reporting.