The US administration is preparing for a large -scale decline in the defense budget. Defense Minister Pete Hegset has instructed to develop a plan for reducing the financing of the Pentagon by 8% annually over the next five years. This means that in general, the cost of defense will be reduced by about a third. About it reports The Washington Post with reference to the memorandum of the head of the Ministry of Defense.
The document obliges to present costs by February 24. The list proposed by the Donald Trump administration lists 17 categories whose financing is planned to be cut. Among them are operations on the southern US border, modernization of nuclear weapons, missile defense, as well as the purchase of submarines, drones and other weapons.
WP notes that the Hegset Budget Directive is part of Trump's broader reforms aimed at optimizing government spending. In addition, the administration ordered the lists of thousands of Pentagon employees who are on the probationary period and prepare them for dismissal this week. The control of this process is exercised by the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge).
There are currently over 900,000 civilian workers in the Pentagon, most of whom are veterans. The US military apparatus also includes 1.3 million conscripts and almost 800,000 servicemen of the National Guard and reserve.
Hegset described the proposed abbreviations as part of Trump's policy "Peace through Power." WP reminds that earlier Republicans, including Hegset itself, criticized the Democrats for insufficient defense costs. Now the budget of the Pentagon is undergoing significant changes, which can affect the US military strategy in the future.
