The White House has released Donald Trump’s budget proposal blueprint or “skinny budget” for the 2026 fiscal year.
The budget blueprint would pump more money into defense and homeland security, while taking an ax to programs that the Trump administration has already targeted — including education, foreign aid, environment, health and public assistance programs.
According to a release by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), it includes a $163bn cut to federal spending, eliminating more than a fifth of the non-military spending excluding mandatory programs.
The proposed budget would raise defense spending by 13% and homeland security spending by nearly 65% compared with 2025 enacted levels, according to the office.
Non-defense spending would be reduced by roughly 23%, the lowest level since 2017.
It is thus very much in line with the second Trump administration’s efforts to drastically shrink the size of the federal government through staffing cuts and office closures, and its aggressive anti-immigration agenda.
Russ Vought, OMB Director, said in the statement, “At this critical moment, we need a historic Budget—one that ends the funding of our decline, puts Americans first, and delivers unprecedented support to our military and homeland security.”
Overall, the discretionary budget would be $1.7 trillion, a 7.6% cut from the current fiscal year.
The proposal outlines President Donald Trump’s vision and provides recommendations to Congress for fiscal year 2026 spending, but lawmakers are not required to follow it.
The blueprint is an outline, otherwise known as a “skinny budget,” with a more comprehensive plan expected to be released in coming weeks.
The “skinny budget” is a summary of budget proposals that presidents often release in their first term, followed later on by the traditional full budget books that include all spending and revenue projections.
It isn’t binding and it is down to Congress to craft legislation.
While it is Congress’ job to appropriate money, the President is required by law to send lawmakers a budget proposal each year.
The proposal is not binding – it is more of a list of the President’s policy priorities, with price tags attached.
Congress does not have to abide by what a President wants. However, this particular budget proposal may be more meaningful than usual, precisely because this Congress has not been inclined to ignore President Trump’s wishes.
Budget Proposal Includes $3.2 Bn For World Bank’s Fund For Poorest Countries
In his skinny budget, Donald Trump asked Congress to approve $3.2bn in contributions to the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), which provides low- or zero-interest loans to the world’s poorest countries.
International finance experts hailed the sum, to be paid over three years, as a welcome surprise, given recent worries that Trump could skip making any contribution to IDA.
Former US President, Joe Biden had pledged to contribute $4 billion, but that money has not yet been transferred.
Asked if the Trump administration would stick to the $4bn pledge, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had indicated that the sum would be decided in the budget, and that much depended on World Bank President Ajay Banga and the Head of the International Monetary Fund getting back to basics.
However, the bigger picture reveals the budget proposal unveiled by Trump on Friday cuts foreign aid by $49bn, a senior official with the Office of Management and Budget told reporters.
Documents released by the White House showed a cut of $555m in funds for the African Development Bank and the African Development Fund, which was “not currently aligned to Administration priorities.”
On the inclusion of the $3.2bn for IDA, the document said, “This fulfills the President’s promise to no longer dole out foreign aid dollars with no return on investment for the American people.”
It added that other donors and institutions should take on more of the costs.
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