U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday he wanted to increase overall U.S. defense spending and played down concerns over a pending audit by Elon Musk aimed at finding billions of dollars in waste at the Pentagon.

President Donald Trump suggested Thursday that U.S. military spending could be cut in half. Shares of defense firms dropped on the news. “We’re going to spend a lot less money,” said Trump at a news conference addressing the potential outcome of talks with Russia and China.