President Donald Trump pledged over $1 trillion in military spending for 2026 and announced expanded domestic security operations during a 72-minute address to senior Military leaders Tuesday, while warning Russia’s Vladimir Putin he appears as a “paper tiger” for failing to quickly conclude the Ukraine conflict.

Speaking at Marine Corps Base Quantico following Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s address, Trump outlined military priorities including submarine deployments near Russia, aggressive enforcement against Venezuelan drug trafficking, operations against what he termed “the enemy from within,” and major investments in sixth-generation fighters, naval expansion, and missile defense systems. 

The president claimed to have settled seven international conflicts during his current term and said recruitment has surged to record levels across all military branches.

Russia Confrontation and “Paper Tiger” Warning

Trump described deploying submarines near Russia after nuclear threats and personally challenging Putin. “I moved a submarine or two, I won’t say about the two, over to the coast of Russia,” he said at 12:00. 

He emphasized submarine superiority at 11:03: “Number one, you can’t detect it. There’s no way. We’re 25 years ahead of Russia and China in submarines.” U.S. submarines are “totally” undetectable, while adversary submarines are “totally detectable. We can detect them easily.”

Discussing nuclear capabilities, Trump said Russia ranks second in submarines while China is third but advancing. “They’re way lower in nuclear, too. But in five years, they’ll be equal,” he said, referring to China’s nuclear modernization.

Trump expressed frustration with Putin over Ukraine. “I thought he would get this thing over with. He should have had that war done in a week,” he said at 59:39. “And I said to him, you know, you don’t look good. You’re four years fighting a war that should have taken a week. Are you a paper tiger?”

Venezuela Drug Operations and Border Security

Trump detailed counternarcotics operations targeting Venezuelan drug trafficking. “We’ve taken out four” boats carrying drugs, he said at 49:01. “Every boat kills 25,000, on average” people through drug distribution. Enforcement has eliminated maritime trafficking: “General Kane says, ‘Sir, there are no boats out there, not even fishing boats.”

Venezuela “emptied its prison population into our country,” including Tren de Aragua, “one of the worst gangs ever,” Trump said at 41:19. Border crossings dropped to zero: “We had no people enter in the last four months. Zero,” he stated at 43:42. The previous administration allowed “11,488 murders” into the country, he said at 40:30. Drug-related deaths reached 300,000 last year, Trump added later.

Domestic Security and “Enemy From Within”

Trump announced plans to deploy military forces to address internal threats. “We’re under invasion from within. No different than a foreign enemy, but more difficult in many ways because they don’t wear uniforms,” he said at 39:53.

The National Guard removed 1,700 career criminals from Washington in 12 days. “Washington, D.C. went from our most unsafe city to just about our safest city in a period of a month,” Trump stated. He signed an executive order establishing a “quick reaction force that can help quell civil disturbances,” at 50:18.

Trump said he plans similar deployments to Chicago, telling Hegseth to “use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military.” He described new rules of engagement: “They spit, we hit,” at 47:28.

Military Investment and Modernization

Trump committed to spending over $1 trillion on the military in 2026, “the most in the history of our country.”

Investment includes the F-47 sixth-generation fighter jet, which Boeing named in reference to Trump’s presidency. “This is our submittal. It’s the greatest fighting jet ever done,” Trump said, describing Boeing’s presentation. “They said, ‘We’d like to name it the F-47.’ I said, ‘Let me think about it.’ Then, after thinking for about two seconds, I said, ‘Okay.'”

The budget includes “tens of billions of dollars in modernizing our nuclear deterrence capabilities” and construction of the “Golden Dome Missile Defense Shield,” described at 32:25 as “the most sophisticated in the world.”

For naval expansion, Trump said at 33:40: “Under my budget, we will be expanding the U.S. Navy by at least 19 ships next year, including submarines, destroyers, assault ships, and more.” He criticized current production capacity: “We basically don’t build ships anymore. We do build submarines, but we don’t build ships,” adding that during World War II “we were doing a ship a day.”

The president is considering returning to battleship concepts. “We’re actually considering the concept of battleship. Nice six-inch side, solid steel. Not aluminum,” he said at 26:53. “Bullets are a lot less expensive than missiles.”

Trump praised recent B-2 bomber operations: “Every single one hit its target. Total obliteration,” at 34:44. The bombers “flew for 37 hours total” with “52 tankers providing refueling,” he added at 36:18. He emphasized their precision: “Every single one of those bombs went right down those chutes into a granite mountain,” at 35:42.

Acquisition Reform and Industrial Base

Secretary Hegseth will announce “major reforms to streamline military acquisitions and expedite foreign military sales,” Trump said at 1:07:29. He emphasized production must accelerate to meet international demand.

“We have tremendous numbers of countries that want to buy our equipment,” Trump said. “The problem is we have to get the companies that make this equipment… they got to make it faster. We have orders for the F-35. We have orders for everything. The new F-47. We have orders for everything. They got to make it faster. A lot faster.”

He added at 1:08:27: “Ammunition they have to make faster.”

Allied Burden-Sharing

NATO members committed to increasing defense spending from 2 to 5 percent of GDP, generating “trillions of dollars,” Trump said at 57:49. The U.S. is “not spending any money on that war, not 10 cents” in Ukraine. “We sell our equipment to NATO. NATO pays us.”

He said the shift represents a major change from the previous administration, which “gave $350 billion” to Ukraine.

Recruitment and Diplomatic Achievements

All services met recruiting goals months early. “For the first time on record in 2025, the Navy, Air Force, and Space Force all met or surpassed their recruiting goals three months early,” Trump said at 14:39. The Army achieved this four months early. Recruitment reached 106 percent of targets, allowing selective standards: “You have the pick of the litter,” at 1:03:24.

The president claimed to have settled seven conflicts in nine months. He detailed the India-Pakistan dispute, where both nuclear powers “just shot down seven planes” before his intervention using trade threats. “I called them both. And in this case, I used trade. I’m not going to trade with you,” Trump said at 19:16.

Trump said Pakistan’s Prime Minister later told him he had saved “millions and millions of lives” by preventing the conflict from escalating. Trump also resolved a 31-year Congo-Rwanda war with 10 million deaths, and a 36-year Azerbaijan conflict.

For the Middle East, Trump announced the creation of a “Board of Peace” to oversee Gaza, with himself as chairman, at 1:04:36.

Trump announced a 3.8 percent pay raise for all service members at 37:10. 

KEY POLICY HIGHLIGHTS WITH TIMESTAMPS

View complete transcript here.

Russia Confrontation

• 11:03 — “25 years ahead of Russia and China in submarines”
• 12:00 — “I moved a submarine or two… over to the coast of Russia”
• 12:38 — U.S. submarines “totally” undetectable, Russia’s “totally detectable”
• 11:16 — China “way lower in nuclear” but “in five years, they’ll be equal”
• 59:39 — Told Putin: “Are you a paper tiger?”
• 59:03 — “Russia and Ukraine are losing 7,000 souls” per week
• 8:06 — Ukraine conflict “turned out to be the hardest of them all”

Venezuela and Border Security

• 41:19 — Venezuela “emptied its prison population… Tren de Aragua, one of the worst gangs ever”
• 49:01 — Seized four drug boats, “every boat kills 25,000”
• 49:28 — “No boats out there, not even fishing boats”
• 43:42 — “No people enter in the last four months. Zero”
• 40:30 — Previous administration allowed “11,488 murders”
• 49:49 — “300,000 people died last year” from drugs

Domestic Security

• 39:53 — “We’re under invasion from within… more difficult because they don’t wear uniforms”
• 42:54 — D.C. “from most unsafe city to just about our safest city in a period of a month”
• 50:18 — “Quick reaction force… the enemy from within”
• 44:32 — “Use dangerous cities as training grounds for our military”
• 47:28 — “They spit, we hit”

Military Investment and Modernization

• 31:02 — “$1 trillion on our military in 2026… most in the history of our country”
• 31:35 — F-47 sixth-generation fighter jet, “greatest fighting jet ever done”
• 32:25 — “Golden Dome Missile Defense Shield… most sophisticated in the world”
• 32:41 — “Tens of billions in modernizing our nuclear deterrence capabilities”
• 33:40 — Navy expansion by “at least 19 ships next year, including submarines, destroyers, assault ships”
• 34:04 — WWII produced “a ship a day,” now “we basically don’t build ships anymore”
• 26:53 — Considering battleships: “six-inch side, solid steel. Not aluminum”
• 34:44 — B-2 bombers: “Total obliteration”
• 36:18 — B-2s “flew for 37 hours total” with “52 tankers”

Acquisition Reform

• 1:07:29 — “Major reforms to streamline military acquisitions and expedite foreign military sales”
• 1:08:16 — “Orders for F-35… F-47… They got to make it faster. A lot faster”
• 1:08:27 — “Ammunition they have to make faster”

Allied Burden-Sharing

• 57:49 — NATO increased to 5 percent GDP, “trillions of dollars”
• 58:06 — U.S. “not spending any money” on Ukraine war
• 58:22 — Previous administration gave “$350 billion” to Ukraine

Recruitment and Diplomacy

• 14:39 — Services met goals three months early, “first time on record in 2025”
• 16:24 — “106 percent of recruiting targets”
• 19:16 — India-Pakistan: “I used trade” to stop conflict
• 20:19 — Trump says Pakistan PM told him he saved “millions and millions of lives”
• 1:04:36 — “Board of Peace” for Gaza
• 37:10 — “3.8 percent” pay raise