The Trump administration’s 2027 budget request calls for a 44% increase in defense spending despite the excessive amount the U.S. already spends on its military. Budget documents ultimately reflect priorities and principles. In this case, it would appear that the Trump administration’s priorities stand in stark contrast to its stated “America First” principles, instead putting U.S. global primacy above all else.
In 2025, U.S. military spending was more than the next six highest-spending countries combined, with the U.S. outlaying three times more on defense than China and four times more than Russia. The 2027 budget request would represent a 58% increase from the 2025 budget.
This would establish a defense budget that is, in real terms, some 90% higher than during the peak of the Cold War, according to the Quincy Institute, which also projects that implementing and sustaining this increase in defense spending would drive the federal debt up to 275% of U.S. GDP by 2056. This spending increase doesn’t even include the costs of actually fighting wars; it only covers peacetime manning, operational costs and modernization.
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