Trump Administration Moves To Ensure No Soldier Ever Needs Food Stamps
on May 29, 2026
The Trump administration has proposed a bold defense budget plan that will deliver the largest raises in modern American history for military personnel, but it comes at a significant cost.
Coming in at $1.5 trillion, the budget will not only provide pay raises for the troops, but, upon approval, it will also cover the cost of the Golden Dome defense system.
These are just two facets of the defense budget, and Sec. of War Pete Hegseth has released a video detailing how he believes the proposed spending is in keeping with an America First philosophy.
A big part of that philosophy means ensuring soldiers and their families will never need to be on food stamps.
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Watch Hegseth Speak On The Upcoming Defense Budget
The timing of the budget proposal is pivotal, as this fall will see midterm elections that could destabilize the Republican majority in Congress.
Last year’s budget was approved as part of the One, Big, Beautiful Bill, with $1 trillion allocated for defense spending.
Now, the Department of War is seeking $1.5 trillion, of which $1.15 trillion is for the discretionary budget, or a 28% increase in funding, for fiscal year 2027.
The remaining $350 billion that brings the proposed budget to $1.5 trillion is part of the mandatory budget, and is also considerably higher, seeing a 44% increase in mandatory spending.
Making the case for the budget, Hegseth says, “This budget is about our people.”
Expounding upon that, he says, “We ask our troops to leave their families to deploy and train in the most complex threat environments since World War II, but when they return to duty, they’re met with outdated facilities.”
Within the proposed $1.5 trillion defense budget, Hegseth said $90 billion will go toward “revitalized barracks and facilities.”
Then, looking to the pay raises touted by the budget, Hegseth said that junior enlisted troops (ranked E-5 and below) will see up to 7% increase in pay.
Rank E-6 to O-3 will see a 6% raise, and O-4 and above will see a 5% raise, according to the White House’s Rebuilding Our Military budget proposal summary for 2027.
With this in mind, Hegseth stated that it is, in part, a response to military families under previous administrations sometimes needing to rely on food pantries.
“This is, of course, completely unacceptable for the greatest fighting force in the world,” Hegseth said. “Our troops should never be, and will never be, on food stamps.”
According to Feeding America Action, 24% of active-duty service members face food insecurity in 2020, with only 2% partaking in SNAP benefits in 2019.
More recently, in 2023, the Military Times reports that 15% of military families are on food stamps or rely upon food banks.
As quoted by the Military Times, Rye Barcott, co-founder and CEO of With Honor, said, “There are a lot of contributing factors for the military recruiting crisis, but one of them is we’re not paying junior enlisted well enough so that they can live without food stamps.”
He added, “To have a strong military, we need to treat our people the right way.”
At the conclusion of Hegseth’s video, he implores for Congress to approve this budget, calling it a “generational investment.”
Watch the full video statement, here:
A previous video released by Hegseth and the Department of War touches on the need for the Golden Dome, as well as the “Golden Fleet,” and it can be watched, here.
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What About The National Debt?
What is not addressed in this budget proposal is the impact it may have on the national debt, which continues to rise.
According to the U.S. Debt Clock, the national debt is over $39.1 trillion as of May 29 this year.
Six years ago, on May 29, 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic was still in full-swing as President Trump was serving in his first term. The national debt was $26.2 trillion.
Looking at the proposed defense budget for fiscal year 2027, the budget includes an expansion of the military’s investments in critical minerals.
It also cites $1.6 billion in cuts to “woke” programs discovered by the Department of Government Efficiency, better known as DOGE.
