US defense spending would rise $445bn under Trump budget plan, with steep cuts elsewhere

Democrats rebuke White House’s ‘bleak and unacceptable’ view of priorities after 10% cuts proposed to other programs Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email Defense spending would surge to its highest level in decades under a budget proposal put forward by the Trump administration on Friday, while other government programs would face cuts totaling 10%. The document prepared by the White House office of management and budget (OMB) is a starting point for negotiations that will probably occupy Congress’s appropriators in the coming months, and is unlikely to be enacted in full. But it nonetheless serves as a signal of Donald Trump’s priorities, with the US military embroiled in a conflict with Iran that has spread across the Middle East, as his Republican allies look to defend majorities in the Senate and House of Representatives ahead of November’s midterm elections. Under the proposal for the 2027 fiscal year beginning on 1 October, defense spending would rise by 42% to $1.5tn, $445bn higher than its level in 2026. The funds would go towards programs intended to ensure “the United States maintains the world’s most powerful and capable military”, including expanding the de