U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has instructed Pentagon and military leadership to develop a plan for an annual 8% reduction in the defense budget over the next five years.
This was reported by The Washington Post, citing Hegseth’s memorandum and sources familiar with the situation. In the document, the secretary requests possible budget reduction proposals to be submitted by February 24, outlining 17 key spending categories that the Trump administration intends to eliminate.
Among these are funding for operations on the U.S. southern border, nuclear arsenal modernization, missile defense development, as well as the procurement of certain types of drones and munitions.
Donald Trump himself has previously expressed support for significant cuts to defense spending, stating his intention to save “billions of dollars.” If the budget is reduced by 8% annually, it will shrink by approximately 34% over five years, marking the largest such reduction since 2013.
However, as The Washington Post notes, there is broad consensus in Congress on the need for substantial defense spending to counter threats from China and Russia.
At the same time, American politicians have raised concerns about inefficiencies in defense spending, particularly due to billions of dollars in losses linked to accounting errors in tracking weapons sent to Ukraine.
For 2025, the Pentagon’s budget is approximately $850 billion.
