Timothy Snyder: Trump's Military Dictatorship Budget

Jun 5, 2026

Trump’s proposal to increase the military budget by nearly 50% is a bribe to officers and soldiers so that they will side with him when he tries to overthrow the Constitution and stay in power indefinitely.

This is where all the evidence points. If there is any consensus about Trump, it is that he is “transactional.” There is zero evidence that he has a notion of US interests. There is abundant evidence that he understands politics as a matter of people being paid off.

And that is the framework for understanding his proposed military budget. He is paying people off. No other explanation fits the data.