UPDATE 1-Trump seeks to shrink cabinet agency budgets by 5 pct

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he will ask every cabinet secretary for proposals to cut their budgets by 5 per cent.

As a candidate in the 2016 presidential election, Trump pledged to slash government spending and regulation, and many fellow Republicans going into November congressional elections have picked up the theme in their own campaign promises.

The Trump administration has indeed slashed regulations since taking office last year.

But the U.S. government ended the 2018 fiscal year with a $779 billion deficit, according to data released on Monday by the Treasury Department, fueled by Republican-led tax cuts that were signed into law last year.

"I'm having a cabinet meeting in a little while and we're going to ask every secretary to cut 5 per cent for next year," Trump told reporters.