The United States military has been grappling with a lack of adequate defense capabilities for a considerable period, and President Donald Trump's proposed defense budget of a record $1 trillion is set to rectify this, according to a former Pentagon official who spoke to the Daily Caller.
Critics, however, have voiced concerns over the substantial increase in spending, labeling it as unnecessary and wasteful.
As reported by the Daily Caller, President Trump unveiled the proposal during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in April. "We also essentially approved a budget $1 trillion," Trump declared. "And nobodys seen anything like it. We have to build our military, and were very cost conscious, but the military is something that we have to build, and we have to be strong, because you got a lot of bad forces out there now."
Echoing Trump's sentiments, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth emphasized that the budget would fund "lethality and readiness." The former Pentagon official further argued that the budget increase is a necessity to ensure the military possesses the capabilities required for defending the U.S. He expressed concern that too much of the defense budget is allocated towards non-lethal defense spending.
The official drew attention to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), an annual legislation passed by Congress to fund the U.S. military. "Politicians know that is where theyre going to bring pork to their constituents back home," he said. "They ladle it into the [NDAA], and then it gets appropriated." Consequently, the defense budget includes programs that are not directly related to national security.
In addition to the budget proposal, President Trump has urged NATO members to increase their defense spending and reduce their reliance on the United States. Supporters of this stance argue that the U.S. is overly dependent on adversaries for critical components. For instance, China exports antimony, a crucial mineral for the production of military equipment such as bullets and munitions, as per the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
The former Pentagon official warned, Its a very dangerous place to be, and were going to have to make a lot of investments to fix that, and its had so many years of neglect that its going to take some substantial budget increases to make it happen.
However, not everyone is in favor of increased defense spending. Bill Hartung, a senior research fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft (QI), argued, We can provide a robust defense of the United States and its allies for far less than $1 trillion per year. He suggested a more realistic strategy that doesn't involve global military intervention and encourages allies to contribute more to their own defense. Throwing more money at the Pentagon when it cant even spend its current budget well is a recipe for waste and fraud. The Pentagon needs more spending discipline, not more spending, Hartung stated.
The Pentagon's financial management has been under scrutiny, having failed seven consecutive audits, including the most recent one in November 2024. Critics have also highlighted the exorbitant cost of military interventionism, with Brown Universitys Cost of Wars project estimating the cost of wars launched post the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks at around $8 trillion.
In response to these concerns, President Trump signed an executive order in April mandating a review of defense acquisition programs. Defense Secretary Hegseth has been given 90 days to review and potentially cancel major defense acquisition programs (MDAPs) that are 15% or more over cost or behind schedule. However, the QI criticized the directive, arguing that it will not hold the Pentagon accountable. Read the fine print: theyll only be considered for potential cancellation,'" the QI posted. Once again: ZERO accountability for the Pentagon.
Elon Musks Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has been focusing on identifying wasteful government programs. The former Pentagon official believes that increased spending for the department is not contradictory to DOGE's mission. And I think DOGE is essential the department needs to be able to pass an audit. Theyve got to find out where the money is being wasted, he stated.
In April, Hegseth signed a memo ordering $5.1 billion in cuts of wasteful spending discovered by DOGE. [DOGE is] here, and theyre going to be incorporated into what were doing at DOD to find fraud, waste and abuse in the largest discretionary budget in the federal government, Hegseth had previously stated in February.
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