The Pentagon Reallocates $50 Billion to Trump’s Defense Priorities Through Budget Restructuring

$50 billion will be reallocated to President Donald Trump’s major defense projects as part of the US Department of Defense’s budget revision.

The Pentagon said Wednesday that it has directed military officials to find $50 billion in possible budget cutbacks from the fiscal year 2026 budget in order to reallocate funding to President Donald Trump’s national defense goals.

By taking this action, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth may be able to further Trump’s strategic objectives, which include bolstering security along the US-Mexico border and boosting investments in the Asia-Pacific area. The reorganization is also consistent with the extensive reforms that the administration has started.

Uncertainty surrounds the integration of this endeavor with cost-cutting measures spearheaded by Elon Musk’s government downsizing teams, which have started working at the Pentagon. Civilian workers are already preparing for possible layoffs.

According to Robert Salesses, who is serving as the deputy defense secretary, the military would examine the budget that former President Joe Biden had suggested in order to determine any possible savings.

Salesses stated, “The offsets are aimed at 8% of the Biden administration’s FY26 budget, or about $50 billion, which will then be spent on programs that are in line with President Trump’s priorities.”

Select military branches were requested to suggest cuts of up to 8% a year for the next five years, according to a Hegseth memo that was published by Reuters on Wednesday. Nonetheless, several sectors were spared, such as the development of autonomous weapons, missile defense, border security, and the US Indo-Pacific Command.

Exemptions were not given to military headquarters that supervised operations in Africa, the Middle East, or Europe.

The yearly budget for the Pentagon is getting close to $1 trillion. Then-President Joe Biden approved $895 billion in defense spending for the fiscal year that ended on September 30 by signing a bill in December.

Asserting that the United States can no longer be “primarily focused on the security of Europe,” Hegseth has made it clear in public that the Pentagon’s priorities under Trump would be protecting the US border and thwarting Chinese threats.

As Musk’s teams start reviewing their budgets, several civilian staff members said they received emails on Thursday alerting them to the possibility of being fired from their government jobs if they were hired in the last 12 months.