Trump’s Military Shakeup: Strengthening National Defense

by Antonio Graceffo May. 12, 2025 9:00am

President Trump is shaking up the U.S. military with a series of executive orders and structural reforms aimed at restoring focus, discipline, and combat readiness.

Together with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Trump has moved to eliminate ideological distractions and to reorient the armed forces around warfighting, deterrence, and strength.

His initiatives include reinstating the ban on transgender service members, eliminating DEI programs from military institutions, reinstating troops discharged for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine, launching development of an “American Iron Dome” missile defense system, ordering a 20% reduction in four-star generals, restructuring Army commands for greater efficiency, and proposing the largest defense budget in U.S. history to modernize forces, raise pay, and revitalize the defense industrial base.

On January 27, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14183, titled “Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness,” reinstating a policy that bars individuals from serving in the U.S. military if they identify with a gender different from their biological sex.

The Department of Defense was directed to revise its regulations accordingly, including halting all gender-affirming medical procedures for service members.

The Supreme Court allowed the order to take effect on May 6, 2025, though legal challenges remain ongoing.

Transition procedures, recovery time, and ongoing hormone treatments reduce deployability and undermine unit readiness.

By maintaining biologically based service standards, the military can enforce medically and operationally relevant criteria that prioritize combat effectiveness over individual accommodation.

The military’s standard of uniformity and constant readiness. Additionally, the military’s standards of uniformity are incompatible with long recovery periods or ongoing non-deployable conditions.

The Trump administration also cites pre-2016 policy, before the Obama-era changes, when such a ban was in place and the military functioned effectively.

Some commanders have raised concerns about morale and cohesion in shared living spaces, such as showers and sleeping quarters, which may be disrupted by gender identity differences.

The order is intended to remove such friction points and reinforce discipline and trust within combat units. Both President Trump and Defense Secretary Hegseth have stressed that military service should be based on the ability to fight and win wars, not on identity categories.

An executive order was signed to reinstate service members who were discharged for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine, restoring their rank and providing back pay.

This action aims to address concerns over personal freedoms and rectify what some viewed as unjust dismissals.

Meanwhile, as part of a broader effort to restructure the U.S. military, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced a 20% reduction in four-star generals and admirals, along with a 10% cut across all general and flag officer ranks.

Dubbed the “Less Generals, More GIs” initiative, the move is intended to reduce bureaucracy, eliminate redundant leadership roles, and reallocate resources to frontline units.

Hegseth highlighted the imbalance by noting that during World War II, 17 four-star generals oversaw 12 million troops, whereas today 44 four-stars oversee just over 2 million.

The cuts aim to streamline command structures, accelerate decision-making, and reduce internal friction among senior leadership.

Fewer high-ranking officers also means smaller support staffs and budgets, allowing funds and personnel to be shifted toward operational units.

President Trump has directed the development of a missile defense system modeled on Israel’s Iron Dome, aimed at intercepting short-range rockets and bolstering homeland security.

The United States already possesses advanced systems such as THAAD, Patriot, and Aegis BMD, and has tested two Iron Dome batteries purchased from Israel in 2020.

The proposed U.S. system, sometimes referred to as the “Golden Dome”, would likely integrate existing technologies with new tools like drone swarms, lasers, and cyber defenses.

While the Iron Dome is optimized for short-range threats like rockets and mortars, the American version would focus on localized defense, such as protecting forward bases, key infrastructure, and vulnerable territories like Guam or Hawaii, from cruise missiles, drone swarms, and other asymmetric threats.

The Iron Dome initiative faces funding and scalability challenges.

Each interceptor missile can cost up to $100,000, while many incoming threats, such as drones or low-cost rockets, are far cheaper.

Establishing a nationwide missile defense network would require mass production of interceptors, expanded radar coverage, and the deployment of hundreds of batteries.

While financially intensive, it may be achievable under the Trump administration’s proposed $1.01 trillion defense budget.

President Trump’s proposed FY2026 defense budget marks the largest in U.S. history, representing a 13% increase from the previous year’s $893 billion allocation.

The proposal reflects a broad investment in military modernization, readiness, and deterrence.

Apart from the Iron Dome, key allocations include upgrading cyber capabilities, and acquiring next-generation aircraft to maintain technological superiority.

The budget also includes a 4.5% pay raise for military personnel to improve recruitment and retention, alongside investments in revitalizing the defense industrial base.

This includes efforts to strengthen domestic manufacturing and supply chain resilience to reduce reliance on foreign suppliers.

Trump’s defense initiatives aim not only to strengthen the military’s ability to fight and win wars, but also to reinforce the principle that the military exists for warfighting, not as a large-scale welfare system.

These reforms send a clear message that defense decisions will be based on practicality and mission effectiveness, not demographics or shifting cultural trends.

While the proposed defense budget is historically large, it also supports the broader goal of revitalizing the U.S. industrial base and reducing reliance on China in critical supply chains.