Trump calls for US military spending to increase by more than 50% to $1.5 trillion

President Donald Trump has called for US military spending to be increased to $1.5 billion (£1.1 billion) in 2027 for what he called “these very troubled and dangerous times”.

That amount would be more than 50% higher than this year’s $901 billion budget, approved by Congress in December.

“This will allow us to build the ‘Dream Army’ that we have long been entitled to and, more importantly, that will keep us safe, no matter the enemy,” Trump said on social media Wednesday.

In separate messages, the president said he would clamp down on payments to bosses and shareholders of major U.S. defense contractors unless those companies speed up their arms deliveries and build new manufacturing plants.

Shares of major U.S. defense equipment makers Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon rose more than 5% in extended trading in New York after Trump’s announcements.

Economists have already warned that the gap between American spending and its income has reached unsustainable levels.

But Trump said Washington could “easily meet” its proposed $1.5 trillion defense budget with money brought in from tariffs.

Trump has been pushing for the United States and its allies to increase defense spending since his first term in the White House.

He said in another article Wednesday that military equipment was not being manufactured fast enough and urged companies to build new, modern factories.

Defense companies are making “massive” payments to their shareholders and buying back shares at the expense of investments in production, Trump said. He also criticized the “exorbitant” salaries of executives of arms manufacturers.

“No executive should be allowed to earn more than $5 million, which, as high as that may seem, is only a fraction of what they currently earn.”

In another post, Trump singled out Raytheon, saying it was the company “least responsive” to U.S. defense needs and the slowest to increase production.

“Either Raytheon steps up and starts investing in more upfront investments like factories and equipment, or they will no longer do business with the War Department,” Trump wrote in another post.

The BBC has contacted Raytheon for comment.

Trump’s call for much higher defense spending comes as geopolitical tensions rise around the world.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Army captured Russian-flagged tanker suspected of violating US sanctions.

This happened after American forces seized Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro on weekends and took him to America to face drug trafficking charges.

In December, China held military exercises around Taiwan simulating the seizure and blockade of key areas of the island, as a warning against “separatist forces”.