The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board does not believe Trump is the big military spender he claims to be.
The White House is touting its $1 trillion defense budget for 2026, but the board says Trump isn’t talking about how much that really is when you add inflation.
“… [W]hen the budget bill is excluded, the Administration has proposed a cut after inflation for 2026. Absent more annual GOP bills, which may not be possible if Republicans lose Congress, defense spending could fall to about 2.65 percent of the economy by 2029 at the end of Mr. Trump’s term. That’s comparable to … European levels that Mr. Trump thinks are so pathetic,” WSJ argues.
READ MORE: 'We don’t want to be bought': Flooded TX county turned down Biden funds for warning system
The president’s goal on shipbuilding, they say, is one example of inadequacy in action.
“The 2026 request asks for a mere three U.S. Navy ships, though the fleet is 60 short of its goal to deter China. Funding for 16 more ships is included in the GOP budget bill. But no contractor puts up long-term capital to expand production for a one-year plan,” says the board.
Unstable demand from government legislators is one of the things that helped produce the nation’s current shipbuilding crisis. If Trump truly cares about restoring U.S. naval power, the U.S. needs 2.33 new attack submarines every year to meet our own requirements and our commitment to sell submarine parts to the Australians. Right now, we are at 1.1.
“Where is the Navy’s 30-year shipbuilding plan that would set a strategic direction for the fleet? ‘We’re still looking at that,’ a Navy official told reporters last month,” WSJ reports.
A general absence of cash is driving bad trade-offs in the Trump budget.
READ MORE: 'We’re talking about now!' MAGA congressman’s whataboutism called out live on CNN
“The Air Force is dumping a command and control plane in favor of a space system that isn’t yet ready for prime time,” says WSJ. “… The Navy’s dysfunctional new frigate is in limbo, but the fleet will shrink without these small combatants coming online on time.”
Additionally, the budget may pour $3.5 billion into the new F-47 fighter jet, but it cuts F-35 purchases to 47, down from 74. And a new fighter in the design phase for the U.S. Navy is now on hold, and with the nation’s vulnerabilities in the Pacific showing its cracks. It’s a bad time, they say, for the U.S. to have to deal with rising China, an imperial Russia, and intimidating new technology that gives low-power enemies surprising new strength.
“Congress can fill some of the Trump defense potholes, but reinvigorating the U.S. military requires White House leadership,” the board says. “So far Mr. Trump isn’t providing it.”
Read the full Wall Street Journal report at this link.