Trump Proposes $1 Trillion Defense Budget as Veterans Slam Cuts to Healthcare and Benefits
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 10, 2025
PRESS CONTACT: press@commondefense.us
Trump proposes the largest defense budget in U.S. history—while veterans face homelessness, healthcare cuts, and unemployment.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Monday, President Donald Trump pledged a record-breaking one trillion dollar defense budget—surpassing this year’s $892 billion. The proposal pours fuel onto the military-industrial complex, even as Veterans face healthcare cuts and massive layoffs at the VA. This is a fiscally irresponsible budget proposal that will hurdle us back towards the forever wars Trump promised he would end—all to make billionaires richer while stripping vital benefits from Veterans.
Common Defense Political Director Naveed Shah released the following statement:
“President Trump is trying to buy patriotism with bombs while abandoning the Veterans who made real sacrifices for our country. This administration claims to be ‘America first’—but you can’t wave the flag with one hand and cut veteran healthcare with the other. This proposal isn’t about keeping us safe, it’s about padding the pockets of defense lobbyists, billionaires, and Elon Musk—all of whom stand to profit greatly from this new budget proposal. Veterans see through it, and we’re not staying silent. We are tired of forever wars that make us all less safe. We call on every American to reject this administration’s reckless war mongering and demand investments in healthcare, housing, and jobs.”
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Common Defense Civic Engagement is a grassroots, veteran-led organization (501c4) that was founded in 2016. We empower veterans to stand up for our communities against the rising tide of racism, hate, and violence, to organize against the entrenched powers that have rigged our economy, and to champion an equitable and representative democracy, where “liberty and justice” truly is for all. For too long, politicians from both political parties have attempted to use veterans as unwilling political props, and Common Defense serves as a home for veterans to organize and speak for themselves and support the candidates who truly share our values.