Donald Trump has unveiled a budget blueprint that proposes significant cuts to social programmes, including education and health, while increasing defence spending by 13% to over $1 trillion. The so-called 'skinny budget' for 2026 outlines a 22.6% reduction in non-defence discretionary spending compared to the current fiscal year, with cuts totalling $163 billion.
The plan targets reductions in funding for environmental and renewable energy schemes, the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Education faces a $12 billion cut, while the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also see reductions. However, $500 million is allocated for the Make America Healthy Again initiative led by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
In contrast, the Department of Homeland Security would receive a 65% budget increase, reflecting Trump's focus on border security and migration control. The Pentagon's budget would rise to over $1 trillion, a move that contradicts Trump's previous promises to end 'forever wars' abroad.
The budget does not affect Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security, which Trump has pledged to protect. However, Democrats have expressed scepticism, accusing the administration of planning cuts to these programmes to fund tax cuts. The blueprint aligns with the goals of Elon Musk's 'Department of Government Efficiency' (Doge), which has targeted foreign aid and federal agencies for cuts.
Russell Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, said the plan aims to tackle 'wasteful spending and bloated bureaucracy,' adding that it would 'end the funding of our decline' and prioritise military and homeland security.
