The Pentagon wants a 42% budget increase to $1.5 trillion, bad news for taxpayers and anyone hoping for spending cuts.

• Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth released a cartoonish promo video selling the massive budget hike as a "generational down payment."
• The $1.5 trillion request equals the combined yearly revenue of Amazon, Google, and Apple, and national debt is already near $39 trillion.
• The Pentagon also signaled it will ask for even more money on top, to cover costs from Trump's war with Iran, which could hit $1 trillion.
• The budget includes $18 billion for Trump's "Golden Dome" missile shield, far below the $1.2 trillion experts estimate it would actually cost.
• Despite earlier promises from Trump and Musk to cut the Pentagon through DOGE, the military budget is nearly doubling from $850 billion.

Outlook: More promo videos and a follow-up supplemental request are coming, with military spending set to keep climbing.