From Ukraine to Gaza, profit is the policy: Trump’s wars enrich defense conglomerates

The State Department recently updated its list of wars that Donald Trump allegedly ended. Trump now claims that he has brokered a peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Trump would have the world believe that this is another feather in his cap as a peacemaker. Previously, Trump and his State Department have taken credit for six other conflicts: India and Pakistan, the DRC and Rwanda, Serbia and Kosovo, Egypt and Ethiopia, Israel and Iran, Thailand and Cambodia. 

We have previously reported on the patent factual inaccuracies of these claims. India and Pakistan have both denied that any third party played a role in mediating the Kashmir-centered skirmishes of 2025. The last war between Egypt and Ethiopia ended in 1876. Trump started the war between Israel and Iran, which he also claims to have ended. Does an arsonist really deserve credit for dousing the fire they started?

Even where Trump and his administration have played some role in mediating conflicts, there is still an inherent Western arrogance in claiming complete credit for any brokered peace. This arrogance is compounded when considering the continued U.S.-funded genocide in Gaza and the U.S.-NATO proxy war against Russia in Ukraine. 

Just three days before Trump’s claim that he was “the President of Peace,” his administration approved $6.4 billion in weapons sales to apartheid Israel. That is $6.4 billion to bomb hospitals and murder children — some President of Peace. 

While claiming to be a peacemaker, Trump simultaneously announced a strategy that ensures NATO’s war in Ukraine continues indefinitely. Three hours before his seven wars ended claim, Trump ranted on Truth Social that “with the support of the European Union is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form. With time, patience, and the financial support of Europe and in particular, NATO, the original Borders from where this War started, is very much an option.” 

Trump’s latest rant makes the U.S. imperialist strategy in Ukraine even more apparent. As we wrote in March, Trump and his cohorts never planned to end the war in Ukraine. U.S. imperialism had no intention of ending its NATO war in an attempt to bleed Russia of resources and political will. Burden shifting the Ukraine war to Europe is an imperialist strategic decision aimed at refocusing for war on China. The Republican Party effectively used war weariness to parlay a 2024 election victory over the deeply unpopular Joe Biden. However, rhetoric is not the same as policy. 

Outright U.S military aid to Ukraine may have ended, but the Trump administration has continually arranged for Ukrainian purchases of U.S. weapons with NATO funds. In the end, the result is the same. The war rages on, and with it, so do massive profits for U.S. defense conglomerates. 

Donald Trump is nothing more than an imperialist war monger. The proof is in the pudding. Trump’s first fascist administration murdered Qassem Soleimani in cold blood. Just a few months ago, Trump ordered strikes on Iranian nuclear sites. Strikes on Iran followed a several-week-long naval and air campaign against Yemen. With Trump’s approval, Israel has launched its largest-ever ground offensive into Gaza. Bloodshed has not been limited to the Middle East. The U.S. military destroyed multiple small boats off the coast of Venezuela under the pretext of fighting “narco-terrorism.” These extrajudicial executions have accompanied an unprecedented U.S. naval buildup across the Caribbean Sea. 

To be clear, the fascist demagogue is not acting alone. He is supported by a whole circus of generals, DOD staffers, the defense lobby, and fascist demagogues like Pete Hegseth. Trump’s administration unleashing war across the planet is not a matter of one man or even a Republican majority in Congress. Imperialist escalation against the entire Global South is a reflection of the imperialist goal to break all resistance.

Trump’s continued war drive is a threat to the entire working class across the globe. Workers everywhere face a literal fight for survival. The only way forward is global working-class resistance against the global billionaire class.