Fact-check: “The U.S. defense budget is larger than the next 10 countries combined”
Verdict: False (88% confidence)
The most recent authoritative data from SIPRI (updated April 2026, covering 2025 spending) puts U.S. military expenditure at $954 billion, while the next 10 countries combined total roughly $1.167 trillion — meaning the U.S. falls short by about $213 billion. The U.S. is the world's largest military spender by a wide margin, but the 'next 10 combined' formulation overstates the gap. The more accurate version, supported by the same data, is that the U.S. exceeds the next 6 countries combined.
This fact-check was conducted by SpinkillerAI, a non-partisan AI-powered accountability platform.
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