In his 2027 budget request, U.S. President Donald Trump has called for the largest U.S. defense budget in history: $1.5 trillion. This is the biggest surge in U.S. defense spending since the Korean War—nearly double the country’s 2022 defense budget and more than the next 18 nations combined.
$1.5 trillion is a lot of money. And all of it is vitally necessary.
The United States faces a dangerous security environment. There are major ongoing conflicts in Europe and the Middle East, and China engages in daily military aggression in the Indo-Pacific. As the 2026 U.S. National Defense Strategy correctly states, Washington and its allies face the risk of simultaneous major power wars across Eurasia.
In fact, this moment may be more perilous than even the darkest days of the Cold War. China is more capable than the Soviet Union, and it is not the only nuclear-capable dictatorship challenging the United States. Washington is simply not ready for war with China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran at the same time.
Looking to the Cold War as a successful model, the United States spent an average of about 7 percent of its GDP on defense. In contrast, the abovementioned 2022 defense budget amounted to less than 3.5 percent of the country’s GDP. Measured in these terms, this represents a nearly 70-year low.
