- Trump's 2027 military budget request includes tens of billions earmarked to “Making Shipbuilding Great Again.”
- Ambitious defense appropriations request likely to prompt pushback from Democrats in Congress.
- Key priorities in Trump’s defense budget include troop pay raises and building a Golden Dome missile defense shield.
Will the Seven Seas eventually be home to President Donald Trump’s “Golden Fleet” of warships?
They likely will be if Congress enacts the president’s 2027 $1.5 trillion defense budget request that includes initial funding for the so-called “Trump-class battleships.”
During a 2025 speech before Congress, Trump announced the creation of the “Office of Shipbuilding.” Americans, he said, live in a dangerous world and need protection “like never before.”
“To boost our defense industrial base,” Trump added, “we are also going to resurrect the American shipbuilding industry, including commercial shipbuilding and military shipbuilding.”
Trump’s recently released 2027 fiscal year budget reveals the president hopes to make good on his ambitious shipbuilding plans — along with several other military initiatives.
The proposal includes $65.8 billion for constructing new ships for the American fleet.
The president’s $1.5 trillion defense spending request comes at a moment when the world waits to see if a ceasefire in the Iran conflict results in peace — or if fighting eventually resumes.
Meanwhile, top congressional Democrats are already pushing back on Trump’s massive military budget ask.
“It’s just an out-of-touch plea for more money for guns and bombs, and less for the things people need, like housing, healthcare, education, roads, scientific research, and environmental protection,” Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley, the top Democrat on the budget committee, said in a statement in a Reuters report.
Trump: Securing ‘peace through strength’
Promising to secure “peace through strength,” the fiscal year 2027 military budget proposes a $1.5 trillion budget — including a 44% increase for the Defense Department, according to a White House budget summary.
“This amount exceeds even the Reagan buildup by approaching the historic increases just prior to World War II — a level that recognizes the current global threat environment and restores the readiness and lethality of our forces,” the summary said.
The tone of the White House 2027 military budget summary was bluntly political.
For decades, it asserted, Democrats have “demanded and received” corresponding increases in “wasteful and harmful” programs for every increase in the Defense Budget.
“This administration has successfully shifted that paradigm by including a much-needed increase to defense spending in a reconciliation bill passed with only Republican votes — avoiding the traditional spending ratchet,” according to the overview.
Decoupling Republican funding priorities “from Democrat waste,” it added, has proven successful.
The Golden Fleet: ‘Making Shipbuilding Great Again’
Trump’s 2027 military budget requests $65.8 billion in shipbuilding funding for 18 battle force ships and 16 non-battle force ships.
“As waters around the world become increasingly contested, it is imperative that the United States be able to efficiently deliver the various naval platforms it requires to ensure maritime domain awareness and deterrence,” noted the budget overview.
The proposed budget would also establish Trump’s “Golden Fleet” — “including initial funding for the Trump-class battleship and next generation frigates, as well as increasing the capacity of public shipyards and improving overall ship production.”
The budgetary allocation for shipbuilding would also maintain or increase procurement of existing Navy vessel platforms — including amphibious vessels and advanced submarines.
Other naval ships supported by the budget: strategic sealift vessels, hospital vessels, Consolidated Cargo Replenishment at Sea tankers, a special mission ship, submarine tenders and other vessels vital for logistics.
Military budget highlights: Troop pay raises; building ships and a Golden Dome
Trump’s proposed fiscal year 2027 budget calls for salary increases across all levels of the U.S. Armed Forces.
If approved, junior and midlevel enlisted personnel (ranks E-5 and below) would receive a 7% pay hike — while enlisted personnel ranked E-6 and higher, along with junior officers up to 0-3, would receive a 6% raise.
Officers at the rank of O-4 and above would receive a 5% pay raise.
“This enduring investment, far higher than the standard annual military pay raise, builds on the president’s recruiting and retention success and gives our men and women in uniform the resources they deserve,” the overview said.
One of the Defense Department’s vital priorities, it added, is to rapidly procure 12 critical munitions and invest “in our long-neglected defense industrial base.”
“These investments will generate expanded capacity in our defense industrial base, providing a foundation for future scalable munitions production.”
Meanwhile, budget dollars would be earmarked in 2027 to build a Golden Dome missile defense shield designed to protect the American homeland from aerial attacks.
During his March 4, 2025, address to Congress, Trump said President Ronald Reagan wanted to build such a defense system decades ago, but the technology did not exist. “Now we have the technology; it’s incredible, actually. And other places, they have it. Israel has it. Other places have it. And the United States should have it too.”
Investing in critical minerals is another key component of the 2027 military budget.
Such funding, according to the budget summary, would remedy shortfalls in the National Defense Stockpile and allow the Defense Department to make “transformative investments” in America’s critical minerals industry.
“These investments will support the creation of American jobs, reduce our reliance on foreign mineral production, and secure a predictable, affordable supply of minerals integral to the next generation of defense technology.”
The proposed 2027 military budget, asserted the White House, prioritizes the military’s mission — and not “woke frivolities.”
“The budget continues to eliminate millions of dollars in wasteful and egregious spending related to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and other ‘woke’ programs, sustaining the more than $1.6 billion in reductions that the Administration has already identified,” according to the overview.
“The savings from these wasteful programs has been reallocated towards administration priorities to revive the warrior ethos and make America strong again.”
Scrapping so-called “woke policies” has been a divisive, headline-grabbing priority for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth during his 15 months as the Pentagon chief.