Dear Reader,
This is Dylan Jovine with Behind the Markets.
Happy Friday.
Today is Friday, January 16th, and I’m genuinely excited to talk to you about President Trump’s proposed $1.5 trillion military spending plan — what he’s calling the push to build a “dream military.”
Now, if you’ve been with us for a while, you already know why this matters to us as investors.
Some of our biggest winners inside Breakthrough Wealth have come from defense-related companies.
Names like Palantir and Rocket Lab, both up roughly 300%.
AeroVironment. Leidos. Kratos.
Every one of them delivered triple-digit gains.
Defense has been one of the most profitable themes we’ve touched — and this new proposal takes that trend and pours gasoline on it.
Before I go deeper, a quick reminder: we’re going live today at 1:00 PM for our webinar.
If you haven’t registered, yet, click here now to reserve your seat.
What we’re sharing there is important.
We asked ourselves a very simple question:
What do our biggest winners — the triple-digit and four-digit gainers — actually have in common?
Not the surface-level stuff people talk about.
The real, underlying mechanism most investors miss.
We spent months researching it, running the data, even using AI to stress-test the idea. And what we found was surprising — and incredibly useful.
We’re going to walk you through it step by step today, and show how we’re folding it directly into the Revised Breakthrough Wealth System going forward.
I’m excited about it. And frankly, it feels good to be back in the office doing this.
We tried the fancy studio last time — very Hollywood, very nice chairs — but I’ll take my ratty old setup any day.
This feels like home.
Sign up here to reserve your spot and I’ll see you at 1pm.
Now, let’s talk defense spending.
Trump’s proposal to lift military spending to $1.5 trillion brings us back to Cold War–level defense spending as a percentage of GDP — right around 5%.
That’s roughly what we spent during the height of competition with the Soviet Union.
And the areas this money is targeting tell you exactly how the Pentagon is thinking about the next war — not the last one.
First up: The Golden Dome missile defense shield.
This would be a continent-wide missile defense system, combining space-based and ground-based layers. It’s inspired by Israel’s Iron Dome, but scaled for the entire United States.
We’re talking about intercepting everything from hypersonic missiles to ICBMs.
That means:
Space-based interceptors.
Next-generation ground interceptors.
Directed-energy weapons like lasers.
Expanded THAAD and Patriot systems.
Advanced radar and targeting systems.
All of it has to be built. None of it appears out of thin air.
Next: Naval expansion.
The administration is pushing toward a 350-plus-ship Navy, including what Trump has dubbed a new “Trump-class” battleship — a massive, nuclear-powered surface ship far larger than today’s destroyers.
Think rail guns. Hypersonic missiles. Sea-launched cruise missiles.
Unmanned surface drones — so-called “ghost fleet” vessels — acting as sensor nodes and missile magazines.
Again, real hardware. Real manufacturers. Real contracts.
Then there’s nuclear modernization and hypersonics.
Much of our nuclear arsenal was designed for the Cold War. It’s aging out.
The Sentinel ICBM system replaces the Minuteman III missiles.
The B-21 Raider stealth bomber ramps up production — long-range, strategic, and extremely difficult to detect.
The Dark Eagle hypersonic missile provides rapid-strike capability.
Add to that space dominance.
Starshield and Starlink militarization.
Jam-proof military communications in low-Earth orbit.
Counter-space assets designed to disable enemy satellites.
This ties directly into why Elon Musk is lowering thousands of Starlink satellites into lower orbits right now.
This isn’t theoretical. It’s happening.
And the big picture takeaway is this:
We are modernizing for the next conflict, not refighting the last one.
History is full of examples of countries preparing for yesterday’s war — and paying dearly for it. Technology changes. Kill chains get faster. Lethality increases.
That’s what this budget reflects.
We are moving onto a war footing.
And importantly, a significant portion of this spending isn’t just about weapons — it’s about industrial capacity.
Trump has been explicit: contractors like Raytheon and Lockheed Martin are expected to build new domestic factories and double production capacity.
For investors, that matters.
Remember the old phrase: walk softly and carry a big stick.
A strong military isn’t about using force — it’s about discouraging anyone from trying in the first place.
That’s the signal being sent here. To China. And to anyone else watching.
We’ll show you how we’re applying the revised system to identify the next generation of big winners — and how we’re positioning for what could be a very powerful 2026.
Have a great day.
“The Buck Stops Here,”
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Written by Dylan Jovine