Trump Seeks Record $1.01 Trillion for National Security, Citing Global Threats

President Donald Trump will request a record $1.01 trillion in national security spending for the fiscal year beginning October 1, marking a more than 13% increase over the current year’s figure of $892.3 billion, Bloomberg reports.

The proposed defense budget aims to fund key priorities such as the Golden Dome missile defense project, shipbuilding and nuclear modernization, and border security, and includes a 3.8% military pay raise.

An official, who requested anonymity because the figures have not yet been publicly released, noted that the 13% increase mirrors a defense buildup previously overseen by President Ronald Reagan. The Trump administration has stated its commitment to a higher defense budget overall, even while seeking to cut some spending at the Pentagon.

The overall request, which encompasses defense-support funding for the Department of Energy, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and other smaller agencies, amounts to approximately 3.2% of the gross domestic product, similar to the fiscal 2024 level.

The figures are set to be unveiled as part of Trump’s “skinny” budget request for fiscal year 2026, which will be released on Friday. The request will allow lawmakers to begin work on fiscal 2026 appropriation bills and provides insight into the administration’s funding priorities.

The proposal represents a significant increase from a November proposal by former President Joe Biden’s defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, who sought a defense-only five-year plan that began with $926.5 billion in fiscal 2026.

Officials stated that the Pentagon-only request totals $961 billion, compared to the $848.3 billion approved in January. The Biden administration had previously projected a defense-only budget of $876.8 billion.

One official noted that the fiscal 2026 request includes a portion of the $150 billion Congress is pursuing in additional “reconciliation” defense spending to supplement this year’s already-passed defense discretionary package.

The prospect of surpassing $1 trillion in defense spending is expected to raise concerns among US lawmakers, many of whom have criticized the Pentagon’s repeated failures to produce financial statements resulting in a clean audit. A recent report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) revealed that the Defense Department disclosed approximately $10.8 billion in fraud between 2017 and 2024.

“The full extent of fraud affecting DOD is not known but is potentially significant,” the GAO report stated.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth offered a preemptive defense of the budget amount in a social media post last month, asserting that despite requesting the first trillion-dollar budget, the Pentagon intends “to spend every taxpayer dollar wisely — on lethality and readiness.”

President Trump also told reporters that the request would be high “because you’ve got a lot of bad forces out there now.”

“Nobody’s seen anything like it,” the president said. “We have to build our military, and we’re very cost-conscious, but the military is something that we have to build.”