The Trump administration has instructed the Pentagon to cut the military budget by 8%

The administration of US President Donald Trump has planned a plan for large-scale cuts in the country's military spending. This was reported by The Washington Post(WP) on February 19, citing a Pentagon memo.

"Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the Pentagon's top leadership and all U.S. military departments to develop plans to reduce the defense budget by 8% over the next five years," the newspaper reported.

It is noted that such a proposal is likely to "face internal resistance" in Congress. Hegseth reportedly ordered the proposed cuts to be prepared by February 24.

However, the Trump administration plans not to extend the cuts to 17 categories, including operations on the USA southern border, nuclear weapons and missile defense modernization, and the acquisition of attack drones and "other munitions".

"The Pentagon's 2025 budget is about $850 billion. <...> If passed in full, the proposed cuts would include tens of billions of dollars in each of the next five years," WP reported.

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On the same day, the Pentagon created a list of employees to lay off ahead of a Department of Government Effectiveness (DOGE) inspection. At this point, it is not clear whether the U.S. Department of Defense will lay off everyone on the list or whether the cuts will affect a smaller portion of the list. What is known is that only civilian employees, not active military personnel, are considered as candidates for dismissal.