Donald Trump is calling for the biggest increase in US military spending since the height of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, seeking to add $54bn to the Pentagon’s budget to combat what he views as threats from a “dangerous world”.

The White House said on Monday it planned to ask Congress for extra defence funding equivalent to nearly 10 per cent of the military’s annual outlays as the president prepared to unveil a budget focused on “public safety and national security”.

Ahead of Mr Trump’s first speech to Congress on Tuesday, the president sought to put his campaign themes of security and strength back into the centre of the Washington debate following weeks of turmoil centred on his administration’s ties to the Kremlin and bitter sniping with the White House press corps.