Lost in the news coming out of Greenland and Iran was President Trump’s announcement earlier this month that his next defense budget request will total $1.5 trillion. If enacted, this would be the largest peacetime defense budget increase in history, surpassing even the budgets of the Reagan buildup. President Trump ran on a peace-through-strength platform and over the past year has exercised American military strength to restore deterrence. Now, for the first time, the president is pairing his use of the military with a peace-through-strength budget. If leveraged correctly, he will succeed not only in weakening America’s adversaries but also in revitalizing the U.S. military for future generations of Americans.
The first year of President Trump’s second term was defined by his restoration of deterrence, using military force across the spectrum of conflict. Operation Rough Rider neutralized a non-state Houthi threat emanating from Yemen, while sophisticated uses of force against Iran and Venezuela degraded junior members of the axis of evil. The Golden Dome, the Golden Fleet and the Drone Dominance initiatives seek to reinforce nuclear and conventional deterrence against China, a superpower rival undertaking the largest nuclear and naval buildup since World War II.
President Trump’s use of the military has been decisive and operationally impressive, but it has not come without costs. Munition shortages have complicated missions, while inadequate force structure has left the Navy and Air Force with too few ships and aircraft to effectively operate in the critical regions of the world simultaneously. These shortfalls are reflective of a military utilized at a wartime pace, yet funded by flat defense budgets more suited to the post-Cold War era of the 1990s rather than the world in 2026.
In the 2010s, persistent operations in the Middle East combined with sequestration caps at home resulted in a decade of neglect for the U.S. military. Defense planners were forced to make damaging tradeoffs between immediate needs and building tomorrow’s force; the president’s request is $500 billion larger than the Pentagon’s FY26 budget and throws these tradeoffs out the window. Depending how the request is executed, it could result in a 20-50% increase year-over-year and amount to 4-5% of GDP dedicated to national defense. It will allow the Pentagon to build at scale and integrate next-generation platforms while sustaining urgently needed modernization programs already in progress.
The last time the Pentagon built for both the present and the future was the 1980s, and the impact was transformative. Reagan’s early buildup budgets completed modernization programs underway: Thousands of modern armored vehicles and tanks alongside new fighters and helicopters entered service. All three legs of the nuclear triad were modernized while a shipbuilding plan realized a 600-ship Navy. During Reagan’s second term, continued budget growth allowed next-generation technology such as GPS, infrared, and precision guided munitions to become ubiquitous throughout the force.
The two key ingredients of the Reagan buildup are the two biggest unknowns still remaining in the aftermath of President Trump’s $1.5 trillion request: programmatic sustainment and presidential attention. While we do not know whether the additional $500 billion will be part of the Pentagon’s annual defense budget request or whether it will be funded through a one-time reconciliation measure, it is critical that the funding be sustained into future years. The Reagan buildup required years of sustained funding. A comparable buildup cannot be accomplished in one fiscal year, no matter the record-breaking budget increase. This is precisely why persistent presidential attention is needed. President Trump said his goal is to build a military that “will keep us SAFE and SECURE, regardless of foe.” Realizing this goal will require the president’s continuous attention and advocacy to persuade Congress to support his request and ensure that the Pentagon and defense industry build and produce.
Presidents Eisenhower and Reagan are known as America’s great peace-through-strength presidents. It is a legacy earned by not only employing military strength with great effect, but by building up American military strength for future presidents. It is how, as Reagan said, you build a military that is a “sheltering arm for freedom in a dangerous world.” President Trump’s action against U.S. adversaries alone warrants his consideration to join this group. His $1.5 trillion budget proposal – if properly sustained and supported – could secure his place in history alongside Eisenhower and Reagan as one of America’s true peace-through-strength presidents.
By Roger Zakheim & Michael Stanton
Roger Zakheim is director of the Ronald Reagan Institute and a former general counsel for the House Armed Services Committee and deputy assistant secretary of defense.
Realclearpolitics January21, 2026
