- Sanders condemns Trump’s plan to add $500 billion to the military while cutting healthcare.
- Trump’s 2027 budget requests $1.5 trillion for defense, a 42% increase from current levels.
- US Navy begins blockading the Strait of Hormuz as oil prices surge above $105 a barrel.
Senator Bernie Sanders condemned President Trump’s record military budget request on Friday, calling it totally nuts and accusing the administration of cutting healthcare and childcare to fund an unauthorized war that is already squeezing working-class Americans at the pump.
“Trump wants another $500 billion for the military on top of the $1 trillion we already spend,” Sanders wrote. Sanders’ argument is that the working class is being asked to absorb cuts to healthcare and childcare to fund military operations that Congress never voted on, in a conflict that is driving gas prices higher and squeezing household budgets at home.
“This is totally nuts. We need to invest in our people, not more bombs and guns,” he wrote.
The Budget Sanders Is Reacting To
Trump’s 2027 budget request calls for $1.5 trillion in total defense spending, a 42% increase from current levels built around a $500 billion addition to military funding. To offset the cost, the White House proposed cutting 10% from non-defense spending, directly targeting the social programs Sanders has spent his career defending.
The request lands more than a month into a war against Iran launched without Congressional approval or UN Security Council authorization, a point that has drawn criticism well beyond Sanders’ corner of the Senate.
The Backdrop Getting Worse
Sanders’ comments arrived on the same day Trump announced that the US Navy would immediately begin blockading the Strait of Hormuz, putting American and Iranian forces in direct competition over a waterway that handles roughly 20% of global oil trade.
Oil surged above $105 a barrel within hours. Analysts expect at least two more months of restricted traffic through the strait even under optimistic scenarios.
The Wall Street Journal separately reported that Trump is also considering resuming limited military strikes inside Iran on top of the blockade. A full bombing campaign is considered less likely but remains an option that officials have not ruled out.
Trump himself left little room for diplomatic language when discussing Iranian infrastructure. “I would hate to do it, but it’s their water, their desalination plants, their electric-generating plants, which are very easy to hit,” he said.
With midterm elections on the horizon and gas prices above levels that have historically punished sitting administrations, Sanders’ message is likely to get louder.
Related: Trump Says US is Clearing Strait of Hormuz Mines After Crushing Iran
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