Trump calls for US military spending to rise more than 50% to $1.5tn
President Donald Trump has called for US defense spending to be increased to $1.5 trillion (£1.1 trillion) by 2027 during what he calls “these very troubling and dangerous times”.
That would be 50% more than this year’s $901 billion budget approved by Congress in December.
“This will allow us to build the ‘Dream Soldier’ that has long been our right and, more importantly, will keep us SAFE and SECURE no matter the enemy,” Trump said on social media Wednesday. he said.
The president said in separate posts that he would crack down on payments to bosses and shareholders of major U.S. defense contractors unless the companies accelerate weapons deliveries and build new production facilities.
Shares of leading U.S. defense equipment makers Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon rose more than 5% in extended trading in New York after Trump made the announcements.
Economists have previously warned that the gap between US spending and income has reached unsustainable levels.
However, Trump said he could “easily reach” the $1.5 trillion defense budget proposed by Washington, thanks to the money brought in by tariffs.
Trump has been pushing for increased defense spending by the United States and its allies since his first term in the White House.
In another post on Wednesday, he said military equipment was not being produced fast enough and called on companies to build new, modern facilities.
Trump said defense companies were making “massive” payouts to shareholders and stock buybacks at the expense of investing in production. He also criticized the “exorbitant” pay packages of executives of arms manufacturers.
“No Executive should be allowed to earn more than $5 Million, no matter how high it may seem, which is only a small fraction of what they currently earn.”
In a separate post, Trump singled out Raytheon, saying it was “least responsive” to America’s defense needs and slowest to increase production.
“Either Raytheon steps up and starts investing in more upfront investments like Facilities and Equipment, or they will no longer do business with the War Department,” Trump wrote in a separate post.
The BBC has contacted Raytheon for comment.
Trump’s call for much higher defense spending comes at a time of rising geopolitical tensions around the world.
On Wednesday, the US military seized a Russian-flagged oil tanker suspected of violating US sanctions.
This comes after US forces captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro over the weekend and took him to America to face drug trafficking charges.
In December, China held military exercises around Taiwan that involved simulating the capture and blockade of key areas of the island as a warning against “separatist forces.”
