Troop readiness threatened as Trump policies drain Army budget: report

The U.S. Army is facing a severe budget crisis as the armed service expands its footprint at home and abroad to meet President Donald Trump's demands, according to reporting.

The military service branch is cutting training programs across the force to address a budget shortfall of as much as $6 billion, triggering a wave of abrupt cancellations at elite military schools and unit-level exercises months before the fiscal year ends, according to multiple U.S. officials and internal documents reviewed by ABC News.

The report found major cost drivers include expenses tied to the ongoing Iran war, an expanding border security mission along the southern U.S. border and large-scale National Guard deployments, including an ongoing mission in Washington, D.C., projected to cost approximately $1.1 billion this year alone, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

The Army is also absorbing personnel costs and covering expenses tied to funding lapses at the Department of Homeland Security during a record 76-day shutdown, the network reported.

The cuts are falling hardest on the Army's III Armored Corps, which commands roughly 70,000 soldiers and represents nearly half of the service's total combat power, ABC reported. Internal documents warn that the corps' aviation units will deploy next year at "a lower state of readiness" and flag the risk of "career stagnation" among mid-level officers. Rebuilding full combat proficiency, the documents caution, could take a full year.

Pilot flight hours have been cut to minimum mandatory levels, the service's premier combat engineering school — Army Sapper Course – was canceled, and an artillery course at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, was abruptly called off, according to the report.

The flight hour reductions come as Army aviation already faces scrutiny following a string of recent accidents historically linked to pilot fatigue and reduced flying time.

Officials told ABC that some year-end training reductions are routine, but they said cuts of this scale this early in the budget cycle are highly unusual.

The issue received little attention Tuesday when Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth testified before Congress on the Pentagon's $1.5 trillion budget request, with defense officials declining to directly address the training cutbacks.

"Army commanders are taking all necessary measures to prioritize critical readiness and operational requirements, ensuring we operate responsibly within our currently enacted funding levels," said Army spokesperson Col. Marty Meiners in a statement.