The United States has crossed a threshold that no mainstream outlet appears interested in examining: defence spending has surpassed $1 trillion for the first time in history – driven in large part by the Iran war that began in late February.
Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, General Dynamics, and Boeing are reporting windfall quarters. Stock prices in the defence sector have surged since the conflict began, and lobbying expenditures by defence contractors grew 38.3% between 2020 and 2024 – the very period during which the political groundwork for this war was being laid.
The pattern is not new, but the scale is. Every missile fired into Iranian territory is a line item on a defence contract. Every interceptor deployed over the Strait of Hormuz is a purchase order. Every fighter jet lost – and the US has reportedly lost 39 since the war began – is a replacement contract worth tens of millions.
Energy suppliers have joined the feeding frenzy. Under the cover of “war disruption,” oil companies have raised prices far beyond what supply constraints justify. The Strait of Hormuz closures have provided convenient cover for price gouging that might otherwise face regulatory scrutiny.
None of this is hidden. The contracts are public. The stock prices are public. The lobbying disclosures are public. What is missing is the obvious question that connects them: if the companies profiting from the war are the same companies funding the politicians who authorised it, is the war a security decision or a business decision?
A trillion dollars does not spend itself. Someone decides where it goes. And the people making those decisions have not been asked, on any major network, to explain why the beneficiaries of their decisions are also their largest donors.
