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MaddowBlog-The glaring flaw in Trump's plan to boost military spending to $1.5 trillion
The president plans to use tariff revenue that doesn’t exist to increase the Pentagon budget to wildly unnecessary levels.
Trump has a plan to use non-existent tariff revenue to simultaneously:
— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-01-08T21:11:58.508Z
- boost military spending to .5 trillion
- bail out farmers
- reduce the national debt
- pay for “dividend†rebate checks
- subsidize child care
Ever hear the old accounting joke that “you can’t spend the same dollar twice�
https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/the-glaring-flaw-in-trumps-plan-to-boost-military-spending-to-1-5-trillion
As this week got underway, Donald Trump whined online that the “Fake News Media refuses to talk about” the $600 billion in revenue generated by his trade tariffs. Later, the president, who’s earned a reputation for making up numbers that make him happy, told House Republicans the administration has “taken in $650 billion.”....
Complicating matters, the Republican continues to make new plans to spend money he doesn’t have. The president published this message to his social media platform on Wednesday afternoon:
He added that this massive increase in military spending is possible “because of Tariffs, and the tremendous Income that they bring.”
Trump concluded his message by boasting that under his vision he could boost the Pentagon’s budget by an additional $500 billion while simultaneously paying down the national debt.
At this point, we could talk about the fact that the “long and difficult negotiations” Trump referred to didn’t happen in reality. We could also talk about the fact that the Pentagon does not need, and did not ask for, $1.5 trillion. We could note that the national debt has climbed by roughly $2 trillion since Trump returned to power. The idea that he can lower that total while cutting taxes for the wealthy and vastly increasing military spending is plainly bonkers......
In recent months, the president has even gone so far as to suggest more than once that tariff revenue will be so robust, he might eventually be able to use the money to eliminate federal income taxes altogether.
Now, the president intends to also use this same pile of money to increase military spending by $500 billion.
There’s an old accounting joke that “you can’t spend the same dollar twice.” Under Trump, it’s tempting to revise the line to “you can’t spend the same dollar six times, especially when you don’t have that dollar.”
Complicating matters, the Republican continues to make new plans to spend money he doesn’t have. The president published this message to his social media platform on Wednesday afternoon:
After long and difficult negotiations with Senators, Congressmen, Secretaries, and other Political Representatives, I have determined that, for the Good of our Country, especially in these very troubled and dangerous times, our Military Budget for the year 2027 should not be $1 Trillion Dollars, but rather $1.5 Trillion Dollars. This will allow us to build the ‘Dream Military’ that we have long been entitled to and, more importantly, that will keep us SAFE and SECURE, regardless of foe.
He added that this massive increase in military spending is possible “because of Tariffs, and the tremendous Income that they bring.”
Trump concluded his message by boasting that under his vision he could boost the Pentagon’s budget by an additional $500 billion while simultaneously paying down the national debt.
At this point, we could talk about the fact that the “long and difficult negotiations” Trump referred to didn’t happen in reality. We could also talk about the fact that the Pentagon does not need, and did not ask for, $1.5 trillion. We could note that the national debt has climbed by roughly $2 trillion since Trump returned to power. The idea that he can lower that total while cutting taxes for the wealthy and vastly increasing military spending is plainly bonkers......
In recent months, the president has even gone so far as to suggest more than once that tariff revenue will be so robust, he might eventually be able to use the money to eliminate federal income taxes altogether.
Now, the president intends to also use this same pile of money to increase military spending by $500 billion.
There’s an old accounting joke that “you can’t spend the same dollar twice.” Under Trump, it’s tempting to revise the line to “you can’t spend the same dollar six times, especially when you don’t have that dollar.”