Report: Global Military Spending Hit Record $2.9 Trillion in 2025
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
Global threats from Russia and China are real and growing, making robust defense spending a strategic necessity, not a giveaway. A steady increase to $1 trillion by 2029 keeps America within historical norms while ensuring enough ships, aircraft and ammunition to deter aggression and protect allies like Ukraine and Taiwan. Cutting defense budgets now would leave freedom dangerously exposed at the worst possible moment.
Establishment-critical narrative
Record military spending — now at $2.9 trillion globally — is a windfall for arms dealers and wealthy shareholders, not working people. BAE Systems and its peers handed out a record $5 billion in shareholder payouts in 2025, with profits flowing to the wealthiest American households who own 93% of all stocks. Resisting rearmament is the clearest path to redirecting that wealth toward the working class.