The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday edition that U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday requested a 10-per-cent cut in non-defence spending for the 2027 fiscal year and a massive $500-billion increase in the military budget (all figures U.S.). A Reuters dispatch to The Globe says the 2027 budget request comes as the President faces risky choices abroad, with the administration sending U.S. service members to the Middle East, and a weary public at home feeling the economic crunch of skyrocketing gas prices. The request requires approval by the U.S. Congress. The huge proposed surge in defence spending to $1.5-trillion, up from about $1-trillion in 2026, includes a 5- to 7-per-cent pay raise for military personnel when thousands of service members are actively deployed. The hefty ask contrasts with the more skeptical view Mr. Trump took toward military spending in his first term, when he even once called the level of funding "crazy." Mr. Trump came into office vowing to cut federal spending and rein in the nation's growing budget deficit, pushing about 300,000 people off the federal payroll. Despite that, the nation's deficit has continued to widen to an estimated $1.85-trillion in the current fiscal year.