“Trump asked for $500 billion more,” Bernie Sanders says — after Pentagon gets “nearly $1 trillion”
WASHINGTON — Sen. Bernie Sanders is calling on Congress to reject any new Pentagon spending tied to the expanding U.S. conflict with Iran, arguing that the military has already been funded at near-record levels and that President Donald Trump is now seeking hundreds of billions more.
“We just gave the Pentagon nearly $1 trillion. Then Trump asked for $500 billion more,” the Vermont independent wrote Wednesday on X, adding that he opposed “more money for a war he started in Iran without congressional approval.”
Sanders’ $500 billion figure refers to Trump’s publicly stated push for a $1.5 trillion U.S. military budget for 2027 — a proposal that would represent roughly a half-trillion-dollar-plus increase over current levels, depending on what is counted in the baseline.
Trump has repeatedly endorsed the $1.5 trillion target, describing it as building a “Dream Military” and suggesting tariff revenue could help finance it. The 2026 military budget level most commonly cited in official reporting is about $901 billion, making the jump to $1.5 trillion roughly a $600 billion increase from that figure.
Administration officials and defense leaders have also been discussing how such a large increase would be spent, with reporting describing internal debate over priorities ranging from weapons replenishment and industrial capacity to high-end technology programs and nuclear modernization.
The White House budget proposal would still require congressional approval, and the scale of the increase has drawn criticism from Democrats and some deficit-focused conservatives even before factoring in any separate request for emergency “supplemental” war funding tied to current operations.
Abbie Clark is the founder and editor of Now Rundown, covering the stories that hit households first—health, politics, insurance, home costs, scams, and the fine print people often learn too late.
