Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday declared President Trump’s proposed $1.5 trillion defense budget a “message to the world” in its reestablishment of the U.S.’s military might.
Speaking to employees at Lockheed Martin’s facility in Fort Worth, Texas, Hegseth declared that the Trump administration is “rebuilding our military,” and plans to increase the U.S. defense budget by more than 50 percent — from roughly $901 billion in fiscal year 2026 to $1.5 trillion in 2027.
“We are rebuilding the arsenal of freedom,” the Defense chief said. “We had a historic budget last year, [and] I don’t know if you saw, the president announced the goal of $1.5 trillion for our national defense budget in 2027. That is a message to the world.”
Trump last week pressed Congress to increase the defense budget, arguing it will allow the country to build its “dream military.”
“After long and difficult negotiations with Senators, Congressmen, Secretaries, and other Political Representatives, 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 wrote last Wednesday in a post 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,” he added.
The figure, if approved by Congress, would be the largest Pentagon budget in history. The defense topline usually sits around $900 billion and has never cracked $1 trillion.
Hegseth said the money will be used “wisely” by the Defense Department to “make sure we’re squeezing everything possible into the best capabilities in the world,” such as the Lockheed-made F-35 fighter jet.
He also touched on Trump’s executive order last week that would cap defense contractor executive pay and limit dividends and stock buybacks, part of an effort to address cost overruns and delayed timelines in delivering weapons.
“Defense Companies are not producing our Great Military Equipment rapidly enough and, once produced, not maintaining it properly or quickly,” the president wrote in a lengthy Truth Social post.
At Lockheed, Hegseth said the defense industry is “not just about Wall Street and dividends and stock buybacks.”
“It’s about the Warriors and what we can deliver as fast as possible to them…,” he continued, “President Trump’s deadly serious about this. He feels the urgency of the moment, and so do I.”