War is evil. It brings death, destruction, and despair. Civilian casualties are common in modern wars. Children are left without parents, and often, parents helplessly watch their children die in front of them. Sometimes, entire families are wiped out. Targeting civilian infrastructure to weaken opponents and pressure them to surrender has now become a fair game. The humanitarian crisis that follows is even more painful to watch.
With that backdrop, it is hard to believe someone would see war as a business opportunity to make money during and after the end of the war. But they do. In the two ongoing wars in Gaza and Ukraine, the United States has been acting as the main arms supplier in both conflicts, with some European nations also contributing to a lower level. Defence contractors in these countries end up as the main beneficiaries of the arms transfer.
In the case of the Gaza conflict, the US declared upfront unconditional support for Israel and provided substantial arms and ammunition to it, most of which was used to destroy the civilian infrastructure and cause thousands of civilian casualties, creating a humanitarian crisis. By March 2025, total arms shipment exceeded 50,000 tons, transported by 500 transport planes and over 100 ships. The US arms manufacturers stand to benefit from this arms transfer by obtaining contracts to replenish the US military inventory.
President Trump’s proposal for the US to ‘own’ Gaza after the end of the war and the displacement of 2.3 million Palestinians who live there to nearby Arab states, to say the least, is abhorrent. It ignores the historical facts about the land and the Palestinians' deep connection to the land. Removing them from their land forcibly would be considered ethnic cleansing, which is against international law.
Global military expenditure rose for the ninth consecutive year in 2023 to surpass $2.4 trillion, driven by the Russia–Ukraine war, Israel’s multifaceted war in the Middle East, and wider geopolitical tensions
Trump then wants to clean up and redevelop the Gaza Strip, which he calls a pile of rubble, into a resort, calling it the ‘Riviera of the Middle East.’ What others see as a tragic situation in Gaza, Trump sees as a real estate development opportunity to make huge profits. He went on as far as to share on his social media account an AI-generated image of his proposed resort showing a beach and high-rise towers in the background, including one with the name Trump Gaza on it.
In the case of Ukraine, Trump first talked about brokering an end to its war with Russia in exchange for Ukraine entering an agreement with the US to jointly exploit large deposits of rare earth minerals in Ukraine that the US needs for its use. Trump claimed that through this deal, the US would get back the $350 billion aid that the US has given to Ukraine to sustain its war with Russia over the last three years. (The German think tank the Kiel Institute, however, estimates the US has sent about $120 billion in weapons to Ukraine).
Never mind the previous US administration of President Joe Biden, who not only encouraged Ukraine to keep fighting an unwinnable war but also provided large volumes of arms and ammunition, most of which were obsolete and going to be disposed of anyway. There were no strings attached to this arms supply as this was a tactical move on the part of the US to keep Russia engaged in this quagmire for a long time, weakening its military capability and economic strength without putting any US boots in the war zone.
More recently, in March 2025, President Trump proposed for the US to ‘own’ the four nuclear power plants in Ukraine, one of them the biggest in Europe, as the best option for their protection in the future. This would allow US companies, such as Pennsylvania-based Westinghouse, to expand their footprint and grow their business in Ukraine.
According to the published reports by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), global military expenditure rose for the ninth consecutive year in 2023 to surpass $2.4 trillion, driven by the Russia–Ukraine war, Israel’s multifaceted war in the Middle East, and wider geopolitical tensions. The 6.8 percent increase in total military spending in 2023 was the largest rise since 2009 and pushed estimated world spending to the highest level recorded by SIPRI.
The United States remained by far the largest military spender in the world. Its $916 billion expenditure was more than the combined spending of the nine other countries among the top 10 spenders and 3.1 times as large as that of the second biggest spender, China.
The top 5 arms suppliers—the United States, France, Russia, China, and Germany—accounted for 75 percent of the total volume of arms exports. In recent years, the US’s share of global exports has increased from 34 percent in 2018 to 42 percent in 2023. Of the 100 top arms-producing companies, the top 5 are based in the US, giving the US a dominant role in arms production and export.
In 2022, the year Russia- Ukraine war started, the world’s biggest defence contractor, Lockheed Martin of Bethesda, Maryland, was awarded contracts worth over $40 billion by the US government. In March 2025, President Trump announced that another major US defence contractor, Boeing, would develop the next generation of fighter aircraft called the F-47. Although the cost of this project is not made public, the initial cost of the development phase alone is estimated at $20 billion. More billions will flow to the company when the aircraft goes into the production phase.
As the carnage of wars continues, some people are making billions, and others are seeing opportunities to make even more billions from the misfortunes of people impacted.