Trump The "Peacemaker" Announces First-Ever $1 Trillion Defense Budget During Meeting With Netanyahu. DOD Asks NATO To Increase Spending
High-ho, high-ho, it’s off to war we go!
Yesterday during a press meeting with Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu, President Donald Trump announced a whopping $1 trillion defense budget as the White House and Pentagon prepare to ramp-up war in the Middle East and militarization in the Asia-Pacific. This is reportedly the first-ever trillion dollar defense budget.
During the meeting, Trump turned Netanyahu’s direction and said “You’re going to like this,” as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth could be seen nodding his head in approval.
"$1 trillion, and nobody's seen anything like it. We have to build our military and we're 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.
“We're going to be approving a budget - and I'm proud to say actually the biggest one we've ever done for the military.”
Trump referenced how the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by Elon Musk has been cutting ‘wasteful spending’ implying that the money saved is now being redirected to the Department of Defense.
“We're cutting other things that were under DOGE […] - all that stuff is going to be cut out, but we are getting a very, very powerful military, we have things under order now the likes of which we've never had before.”
“The military is very, very powerful and it’s going to remain that way.”
Sec. Hegseth confirmed this in a post on X. “COMING SOON: the first TRILLION dollar @DeptofDefense budget,” he wrote. “President@realDonaldTrump is rebuilding our military -- and FAST. (PS: we intend to spend every taxpayer dollar wisely -- on lethality and readiness).”
It should be noted that while the Pentagon has on a number of occasions exceeded the annual fiscal budget, this marks the first time the budget has been declaredly set at $1 trillion. ZeroHedge noted that “Biden's 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) totaled $895 billion, so a trillion appears [as] the next natural progression, given the out of control nature of defense spending.”
The WinePress reported in February that it was projected that defense spending was set to increase under the second Trump administration, and so far that is proving to be true and then some. CNBC reported at the time that “Defense spending under Trump is expected to increase to 6% of GDP. Currently the U.S. is spending 3.4% of GDP on defense, which already makes the U.S. the world’s largest defense spender.”
The Trump administration has touted trying to pay down the national debt, critics of this recent move by the Trump White House were quick to say that this is only going to add to that debt. Tim Anderson, Director of the Centre for Counter Hegemonic Studies, said in a post: “Add another trillion to the US debt. None of the budget cuts in Washington have reached the Pentagon, which does precisely nothing to "defend" the USA. The US military exclusively interferes in other countries.”
Former Texas Representative and presidential candidate Ron Paul condemned Trump’s latest announcement, calling it a “shame.” He added:
“President Trump casually mentioned that the U.S. will have its first TRILLION dollar military budget. This doesn't, in any sense, sound like a government looking to cut waste, fraud and abuse.
We have been bankrupted (economically and morally) by endless wars that have provided our people with no benefits...only costs. We'll never know what the American standard of living could have been had we not squandered away so many trillions on wars. We can put an end to the squandering, and that was the hope with President Trump.
“But alas, even with total Republican control, the federal debt continues to rise, with more of our money being pumped into the military-industrial complex. This is all bad news for our nation.”
Trump and Hegseth’s latest declaration comes at a time when just a little over a week ago Hegseth signed a memorandum - "Initiating the Workforce Acceleration & Recapitalization Initiative" - to drastically reduce the number of active-duty soldiers in the armed forces to cut what Hegseth described as fraud and waste.
Military.com reported:
The Army is quietly considering a sweeping reduction of up to 90,000 active-duty troops, a move that underscores mounting fiscal pressures at the Pentagon and a broader shift in military strategy away from Europe and counterterrorism, according to three defense officials familiar with the deliberations.
Internal discussions are exploring trimming the force to between 360,000 and 420,000 troops -- down from its current level of roughly 450,000. The potential cuts would mark one of the most dramatic force reductions in years, as military planners aim to reshape the Army from a blunt conventional force into what they hope could be a more agile, specialized instrument better suited for future conflicts. It's unclear whether any cuts are being mulled for the Army Reserve or National Guard.
The move comes after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directed the Pentagon to come up with plans to cut 8% from the budget. Hegseth has long criticized what he describes as "woke" initiatives within the military, though that critique has centered on ill-defined cultural grievances and confused the force on how to comply and on what exactly needs scrubbing.
Meanwhile, Hegseth spoke at Vasco Nuñez de Balboa Naval Base located at the Panama Canal, where he vowed not to let China take control of the ports and insinuated military force would be used to do so.
“President Mulino's decision to withdraw from the Belt and Road Initiative reflects his government's clear understanding of China and the threat it poses. I want to be very clear — China did not build this canal; China does not operate this canal; and China will not weaponize this canal.
“Together with Panama in the lead, we will keep the canal secure and available for all nations through the deterrent power of the strongest, most effective and most lethal fighting force in the world. We will do this in partnership with Panama. Together we will take back the Panama Canal from China's influence, and we will do this along with other capable like-minded allies and partners. This is what Peace through Strength looks like.”
This comes after President Trump announced during the State of the Union address that an “American company” - which turned out to be BlackRock - purchased 41 ports in the Panama Canal for $23 billion, to which he then floated the idea of sending the military to then secure them by force. However, recently Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison blocked the transaction from finalizing, only adding to the conundrum brewing in the region.
On top of this, today ranking officials at the Pentagon are calling upon NATO to increase its spending as well in an effort to take the reigns of dealing with the mess in Ukraine.
Per a press release from the Pentagon:
To ensure an effective alliance, NATO needs to generate and field forces necessary to provide credible deterrence, increase military spending and take the lead in supporting Ukraine's defense requirements, said Katherine Thompson.
"Allies are taking steps to that effect. Last month, for instance, the United Kingdom hosted the Ukraine Defense Contact Group. The U.K. and France have also committed to lead additional efforts to ensure a lasting peace in Ukraine," she said.
Thompson argued that NATO has been taking advantage of the U.S. and has become too lackadaisical in not putting up their share. “For decades, they have shown themselves content to freeride, not just at the expense of American taxpayers, but at the expense of their fellow allies' security," Thompson said.
The Pentagon added:
Army Gen. Christopher G. Cavoli, commander of U.S. European Command and supreme allied commander Europe, said Russia's war in Ukraine has revealed it to be a chronic threat, and in the coming years, that threat will continue to grow. He said Russia has shown it is willing to use military force to achieve geopolitical goals, and it is actively waging a campaign of destabilization across Europe and beyond.
NATO deterrence has held. War has not spilled into NATO territory thanks to support from a broad international coalition. Military support for Ukraine from the U.S., allies and partners has enabled them to mount a courageous defense, Cavoli said.
"Now NATO has taken up this task," he added. The threat of war also led NATO to embark on a historic campaign to fundamentally overhaul and modernize its military capabilities.
"After years of underinvestment — too many years — our allies are finally optimizing the alliance for high-end warfighting, and within NATO, we now have the plans, the forces, the command and control, and we have the focus to meet that mission. And there's still much to do, but our allies are investing in defense at a rate we haven't seen since the Cold War, a 40% increase overall since February of 2022," Cavoli said.
The DoD’s posture is not unexpected. In December, NATO Chief Mark Rutte discussed how the E.U. needed to develop a “wartime mindset” (in which he alluded to the idea of remilitarizing with the use of “pensions, health, [and] Social Security” money), Rutte acknowledged that Trump pushed NATO to increase its spending last time he was President and said Trump would do so again.
Rutte said at the time:
“What he wants is to make sure that that the US is not overspending and we are not doing enough. And he’s totally right. I mean, I remember when he became President in 2016, 2017 that he continued to push us. And since he became president, we spent 641 billion more than before he came on. That’s an advocate of what we are spending more since, since then and since 2014 it was very sluggish. The uptake of moving to the 2% since he became president, we accelerated, of course, the full onslaught, the full-scale onslaught of Russia and Ukraine, has also ramped up defence spending, but he was very successful in ramping it up. He will again push us.
“But my point is this, I don’t want to spend more because he wants, we have to spend more because our deterrence is at stake. Our security is at stake. Our collective defence is not what it should be, and we are in real difficulty in four or five years. That is why we need to spend more, not because of Donald Trump, but he is right. We need to do more.
“And by the way, what we need from him. I have a big ask from Donald Trump, and this is about the US industrial defence capacity. I know as Prime Minister of the Netherlands how difficult it is to buy anything in the US, be it Patriots or missiles, whatever you have to go through Congress and the Senate. No, sorry, the Congress, the Pentagon and the White House, they all have to agree. And as I said, we have our 184 billion we are spending since 2022, European Allies in the US, that can be even more. I’m absolutely convinced if he would make it easier for European Allies to buy in the US. So, this is something he can help with, and it helps also his own economy. But I know, I think he was spot on on forcing us to spend more. But again, let’s not do it now because he wants it. We do it because we need to do it. It’s our collective defence which is at stake.”
It should also be noted that this latest push by the Pentagon for NATO to up their spending coincides with this latest effort by E.U. leaders to rapidly remilitarize, which in fact includes utilizing private savings and pension funds; all of which fell into place after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky squabbled with Trump and VP Vance, failing to secure a minerals deal.
AUTHOR COMMENTARY
Proverbs 20:17 Bread of deceit is sweet to a man; but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel.
Regular readers of The WP will recall that I have repeatedly said - here, here, and here - that DOGE is not cutting but consolidating. Trump, by his own words, validated this in his speech. Even though DOGE has exaggerated its so-called savings, what money is being “cut” is just being redirected to other departments, in this case the DoD - the same DoD that has not passed an audit in forever it feels, but here we are once again funding the war machine in preparation for the ‘official’ start of World War III.
And Trump, being Bibi’s little golden doodle, looks over and says, “You’re going to like this.” -Just a lapdog sucking up to his master.
“Peacemaker,” huh? Tired of winning yet? Remember when this warmonger said during his Inauguration that he wanted to be remembered as a “peacemaker?” Well, here you go: "War is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength."
“That is why each day under our administration of American patriots, we will be working to meet every crisis with dignity and power and strength. We will move with purpose and speed to bring back hope, prosperity, safety, and peace for citizens of every race, religion, color, and creed.
“[…] Like in 2017, we will again build the strongest military the world has ever seen. We will measure our success not only by the battles we win but also by the wars that we end — and perhaps most importantly, the wars we never get into. (Applause.)
“My proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker and unifier. That’s what I want to be: a peacemaker and a unifier.”
Again, I have to reiterate that Trump was never an anti-war President like he is so often portrayed by the so-called “alternative” and MAGA media.
For example, during his tenure as Trump, under his administration, by 2018 was dropping a bomb every 12 minutes on innocent men, women, and children, according to Pentagon documents. Fathom that: every 12 minutes! Furthermore, what he and the DoD are doing now with NATO is what he did the first time: nothing has changed, it’s business and warmongering as usual: the military industrial complex continues on unphased.
And look at what he is doing now with his complicit support of Israel and Netanyahu’s genocidal rampage, wanting to turn Gaza into the “Riviera of the Middle East;” the bombing of civilians in Yemen in the name of fighting terror and opening up shipping lanes; the plans to go to war with Iran in very short order (more on that in future reports);
Now there is a rapidly growing effort to force a war with China. The U.S. is increasingly militarizing the Philippines in an effort to get its forces closer to China and use the Filipinos as collateral damage in another war that absolutely cannot be achieved. Then you look at how bloodthirsty Hegseth is, claiming in his 2020 book American Crusade: Our Fight to Stay Free, how we need to launch a "holy war" and "crusade" against China, including the "Left" and Islam. The Chinese “are literally the villains of our generation”, he wrote.
High-ho, high-ho, it’s off to war we go!
Psalm 140:1 Deliver me, O LORD, from the evil man: preserve me from the violent man; [2] Which imagine mischiefs in their heart; continually are they gathered together for war. [3] They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent; adders' poison is under their lips. Selah.
[7] Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? [8] Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also? [9] For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? [10] Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. (1 Corinthians 9:7-10).
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Make peace by spending trillions of bucks....makes total sense, why not spend zero and let the other countries deal with their own junk. Work to fix this country, nah, that costs to much and we can't make money that way by hosing others...
Just a thought???!!!
Hello brethren, hope all is well. Jacob, glad I got around to getting in here.
I heard the Trump admin spent a billion to bomb Yemen. They just got to have their blood sacrifices, don't they.