Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said in a post on X on Thursday that inflating the Pentagon budget by nearly 50% to $1.5 trillion for 2027 was a “fiscally responsible investment” as the Trump administration attempts to justify its record-shattering military budget request.
“Thanks to President Trump’s $1.5 trillion defense budget, this War Department has moved from bureaucracy to business,” Hegseth wrote. “This is a FISCALLY RESPONSIBLE INVESTMENT in our Arsenal of Freedom—ensuring our military remains the most lethal fighting force in the world.”
The post included an animated video featuring Hegseth, where he claimed that the Trump administration was “putting the American taxpayer first” and taking action against bureaucracy.
Hegseth said that the administration insisted that when weapons makers expand their factories to sell more equipment to the US military, they pay the expenses, rather than have them funded by US taxpayers. The video didn’t explain why something that would seemingly reduce US military spending would necessitate increasing the budget by $500 billion.
“In exchange, we’re giving these companies steady, long-term orders for exactly what our warriors need. And defense companies are making things in higher volumes, much more quickly, while keeping their prices flat. Should these companies fail to deliver, we will hold them accountable and bring in new companies who will,” the US war chief said.
Winslow Wheeler, a veteran defense analyst, has found that based on the $1.5 trillion military budget for 2027, the true cost of US national security spending will exceed $2.5 trillion, an estimate that factors in military spending from other US government agencies, the interest accrued on the debt, among other factors.
