The Biggest Winner in Donald Trump’s Defense Budget

The Trump administration finally released its FY26 defense budget request last week. And while we didn’t quite get the $1 trillion top-line figure that was promised, we got close.

The defense budget request itself totaled $843.3 billion, up from $831 billion last year. However, an additional $150 billion boost is baked into the massive reconciliation bill that’s been working its way through Congress.

The added funds from that bill would bring total defense spending for the year to $962 billion. Additionally, Congress typically adds to the president’s defense spending proposal, which will ultimately drive that top line figure even higher. 

So for now, we’re still closer to the $935 billion estimate I tossed out in January, but the $1 trillion milestone is in the near future. 

Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) got the short end of the stick, as the budget reduced its pending request for F-35 fighter jets from 68 to 47.  It also requests fewer of Lockheed's Precision Strike Missiles, which are slated to replace the Army Tactical Missile.

Boeing’s (NYSE: BA) E-7 Wedgetail found itself on the chopping block as well, amid cost overruns and survivability concerns. 

Conversely, there’s a greater emphasis on shipbuilding. 

The plan calls for the procurement of 19 new ships, up from six in 2025. That includes a new Virginia-class submarine, two Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, one frigate, one San Antonio-class amphibious transport, and one medium landing ship.

That’s a nice score for General Dynamics (NYSE: GD) and its Electric Boat Division as well as Huntington Ingalls (NYSE: HII).

Missiles and missile defense were another key focus.

The proposal earmarks $2.5 billion for missile and munitions production expansion, which is good for GD and RTX (NYSE: RTX), which makes the Stinger, Tomahawk, and Patriot, among others.

Small drones also saw an increase in spending.

However, the big winner is President Trump’s Golden Dome initiative, which comes away with a $25 billion “down payment.” And truly, that is just the start as the sprawling, multi-layered defense system will likely see a price tag that runs into the trillions by the time it’s all said and done. 

In fact, with assets spanning air, land, sea, and space, the Golden Dome figures to be the biggest defense initiative since the Manhattan Project.

Trump himself claims the full cost of the Golden Dome will be just $175 billion — but, frankly, there’s no way that’s accurate.

The Congressional Budget Office puts the total sum 4–5 times higher, at $542 billion. And that’s just the cost for a limited space-based component that would only be capable of intercepting one or two ICBMs from a rogue nation like North Korea.

It’s going to cost magnitudes more to realize Trump’s vision of a missile shield capable of defending against dozens of advanced ICBMS, hypersonic missiles, and LEO glide vehicles.

Heck, even just defending the United States against rocket and mortar attacks with Iron Dome-style batteries would require more than 24,000 units and cost roughly $2.5 trillion.

So, truly, when it’s all said and done, the cost for this endeavor is likely to be 10 times bigger than the CBO estimates — in excess of $5 trillion. 

And the company that stands to benefit most is the one nobody is talking about. 

It manufactures radar systems with 360-degree fields capable of catching any low-flying threats radars might miss.

Its electronic warfare systems can jam AI drone swarms mid-flight.

And its AI-powered edge computing and advanced signal intelligence can track and neutralize hypersonic missiles and cyber threats before they strike.

Make no mistake, the Golden Dome isn’t going to be anything like Israel’s Iron Dome, which was designed to intercept mortars, cruise missiles, and shoulder-fired rockets.

It’s going to be much more sophisticated than that.

It’s a full-spectrum defense grid — designed to detect, intercept, and destroy any threat before it gets anywhere near U.S. soil.

And the company I’ve found is going to be at the center of it all.

You can find my full report on it here.