Trump's budget calls for $1.5 trillion in military spending, cuts to everything else

President Trump eyes $1.5 trillion defense budget

National security analyst Hal Kempfer joins LiveNOW's Austin Westfall to discuss President Trump's push for an increased defense budget of $1.5 trillion.

President Donald Trump is calling for the largest defense budget in the nation’s history with $1.5 trillion in military spending and across-the-board cuts to nearly everything else. 

Trump released his proposed budget Friday. Here’s what we know: 

Trump’s budget request

By the numbers:

Trump’s budget would mark a 44% increase in Pentagon spending, while substantially cutting what the administration calls "woke programs" that often help low-income Americans. According to The Associated Press, the word "woke" appears in Trump’s budget 34 times. The budget also calls for:  

• A 10% decrease in non-defense discretionary spending
• Money for new immigration detention centers with 100,000 new beds for adults and 30,000 for families, some of which would be funded by eliminating parts of a refugee resettlement aid program.
• A 13% increase in Department of Justice funding to focus on violent criminals and what the White House calls migrant crime.
• $10 billion fund within the National Park Service for "construction and beautification" projects in Washington, D.C.
• A $481 million increase in money for hiring more air traffic controllers and improving flight safety.
• A 19% decrease to the Department of Agriculture, ending certain university grants.
• A 13% decrease to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which funds low-income housing.
• A 12% decrease to the Department of Health and Human Services, including cuts to a low-income heating assistance program.
• A $106 million cut in funding for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
• Eliminating more than $15 billion in funding from the Biden-era bipartisan infrastructure bill for renewable energy projects.
• Cuts to National Oceans and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) grant programs.

The budget says $1.1 trillion for defense would come through the regular appropriations process, which requires support from both parties, while $350 billion would go through a budget reconciliation Republicans can pass on their own. 

US President Donald Trump takes a question from a reporter after signing an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on March 31, 2026. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP via Getty Images)

What they're saying:

Two days before he released his budget, Trump told supporters at a private luncheon that "it’s not possible" for the U.S. to fund day care, Medicaid and Medicare programs because "we’re fighting wars" and "we have to take care of one thing: military protection."

RELATED: Trump says US can't fund Medicare, Medicaid and day care because 'we're fighting wars'

What does Congress say? 

Dig deeper:

The president’s budget doesn’t carry the force of law: Passing a budget is up to Congress. Congress is free to reject it and often does. Last year, Trump sought a roughly one-fifth decrease in non-defense spending, but Congress kept spending relatively flat.

Republicans on the House and Senate Armed Services committees applauded Trump’s request for more defense spending, while Democrats decried the double-digit cuts to other programs. 

RELATED: Federal judge halts Trump executive order to defund NPR, PBS

"America is facing the most dangerous global environment since World War II," said Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala.

The other side:

Rep. Jason Crow, a Colorado Democrat and former Army Ranger who serves on the House Armed Services Committee, said "Americans don’t want foreign wars." 

"They want cheaper health care, groceries, and gas at home," he said. "Trump says we can’t afford child care or health care but wants to give a blank check to fund more military adventurism abroad.

"As a combat veteran, we should never hesitate to use our military to protect Americans and our interests. But we must acknowledge that the Pentagon has failed to pass an audit eight years in a row, and simply spending more money doesn’t mean a stronger national defense. We must use American taxpayer dollars responsibly and make smart investments to keep us safe. Our servicemembers, their families, and the American people deserve better."

The U.S. runs on a nearly $2 trillion annual deficit, and the national debt has surpassed $39 trillion. 

What's next:

It’s unclear when the House and Senate will start reviewing the 2027 budget process: Congress still hasn’t fully funded the government for the rest of this fiscal year. The House and Senate remain at a stalemate over Department of Homeland Security funding, with Democrats demanding changes to Trump’s immigration enforcement that Republicans are unwilling to accept. The record-long partial government shutdown has reached 49 days as of Friday.