Trump seeks 50% hike in defence budget to $1.5tr

WASHINGTON:

President Donald Trump said Wednesday he wanted to increase the US defence budget by half next year to a giant $1.5 trillion to deal with “troubled and dangerous times.”

“I have determined that, for the Good of our Country, especially in these very troubled and dangerous times, our Military Budget for the year 2027 should not be $1 Trillion Dollars, but rather $1.5 Trillion Dollars,” Trump said on Truth Social. “This will allow us to build the ‘Dream Military’ that we have long been entitled to and, more importantly, that will keep us SAFE and SECURE, regardless of foe,” the president said.

Trump said the increase is possible due to revenue from the sweeping tariffs he has imposed since returning to office early last year.

The United States is already by far the world’s biggest military spender, and a hike to $1.5 trillion would push Washington’s financial outlay on its armed forces even farther ahead of its rivals China and Russia.

Trump’s announcement on boosting the US military budget comes after NATO allies committed last year to increase their defense spending to five percent of GDP by 2035 in response pressure from the US president.

Meanwhile, the US president said Caracas would only buy US-made products with the profits from what Washington says is a deal to sell oil from Venezuela following the toppling of Nicolas Maduro.

“I have just been informed that Venezuela is going to be purchasing ONLY American Made Products, with the money they receive from our new Oil Deal,” Trump said on his Truth Social network.