Army may slash 90,000 troops as Pentagon faces budget cuts and strategic shake-up: report

The U.S. Army is softly considering slashing up to 90,000 active-duty troops — a monolithic simplification that could bring the unit down to arsenic fewer arsenic 360,000 soldiers, according to a study from Military.com. 

The determination comes arsenic Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pushes for an 8% chopped to the Pentagon’s fund and arsenic the subject shifts its absorption distant from Europe and counterterrorism missions.

The imaginable cuts are successful enactment with defence leaders' extremity to reshape the Army into a smaller, faster and much high-tech unit amended suited for aboriginal conflicts, peculiarly successful the Pacific wherever China is seen arsenic a increasing threat.

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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is aiming to chopped the Pentagon's fund by 8%. (Andrzej Iwanczuk/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

"We are gathering much combat powerfulness portion reducing unit and overhead. End Strength mightiness even go up," Army spokesperson Cynthia Smith wrote successful an email to Fox News Digital. "This is going to beryllium a leaner, much lethal and larger Army."

No further discourse was offered from the Army successful their email to Fox News Digital connected the matter.

The projected Army cuts travel successful the aftermath of Secretary of State Marco Rubio's telephone for accrued European NATO spending during a sojourn to Brussels connected Thursday. (JACQUELYN MARTIN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

One authoritative warned the cuts could deed hard if not managed carefully. "If we trim the unit without a wide retention strategy, we hazard losing talented radical who person different options," the authoritative told Military.com.

The U.S. Army has been a cardinal subordinate successful supporting NATO amid Russia’s warfare successful Ukraine, a ngo the Trump medication has often criticized.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking from NATO office successful Brussels connected Thursday, delivered a wide connection from President Donald Trump: Europe indispensable measurement up. 

"He’s against a NATO that lacks the capabilities needed to fulfill its obligations," Rubio said. "This is simply a hard truth, but 1 that indispensable beryllium addressed."

US Army instrumentality and subject vehicles are pictured during preparations for loading connected cargo ships for repatriation from the Esbjerg Harbor during Operation Raven Assistor successful Esbjerg, occidental Denmark, connected April 3, 2025. (BO AMSTRUP/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images)

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The Army chopped astir 24,000 positions tied to counterterrorism past year, but those roles were mostly unfilled.

Despite recruiting challenges successful caller years, the Army met its 2024 enlistment extremity of 55,000 by the extremity of the fiscal twelvemonth successful September.