The Trump administration developed the Gaza Reconstitution, Economic Acceleration and Transformation (GREAT) Trust plan (also known as “Project Sunrise”), with Trump Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and adviser Jared Kushner leading the development over 45 days beginning in October 2025. The …
On January 28, 2021, during a quarterly earnings call just days after Joe Biden’s inauguration, Raytheon CEO Greg Hayes told investors that “peace is not going to break out in the Middle East anytime soon,” framing ongoing regional conflicts and violence as positive factors for …
Greg HayesRaytheonSaudi ArabiaJoe Bidenraytheonwar-profiteeringgreg-hayessaudi-arabiayemen-war+1 more
On January 30, 2020, Raytheon reported better-than-expected quarterly profits driven by surging international weapons demand, with company executives explicitly citing US-Iran tensions as a growth driver. The earnings announcement came just weeks after the January 3, 2020 US drone strike killing …
RaytheonGreg HayesSaudi ArabiaIranDonald Trumpraytheonwar-profiteeringiranpatriot-missilessaudi-arabia+1 more
L. Paul Bremer III, appointed head of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) on May 6, 2003, begins issuing binding orders with the force of law to radically transform Iraq’s economy from centralized planning to free-market capitalism. From May 6, 2003 until June 28, 2004, Bremer issues 100 …
Paul BremerCoalition Provisional AuthorityGeorge W. BushDonald RumsfeldDick Cheneyshock-doctrineiraq-warprivatizationcorporate-powerneoliberalism+3 more
Former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara publishes “In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam,” admitting that the Vietnam War was “terribly wrong” and that he knew it all along. McNamara writes: “We of the Kennedy and Johnson administrations who participated …
Former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamaraBrian VanDeMark (co-author)government-deceptionwar-profiteeringinstitutional-corruptionaccountability-failure
Seven chemical companies including Dow and Monsanto agree to pay $180 million to thousands of Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange, settling the class action lawsuit out of court just before trial. Monsanto alone pays slightly over 45% of the settlement sum. All seven companies, having been …
Dow Chemical CompanyMonsanto CompanyVietnam VeteransSeven Chemical CompaniesJudge Jack B. Weinsteincorporate-corruptionwar-profiteeringhealth-crisisaccountability-failureveterans-issues
Attorney Victor Yannacone files a class action lawsuit in the Southern District of New York against U.S. chemical manufacturers of Agent Orange, including Dow Chemical Company and Monsanto—the two largest producers—along with Diamond Shamrock, Uniroyal, Thompson Chemicals, Hercules, and dozens of …
Lawyer Victor YannaconeDow Chemical CompanyMonsanto CompanyVietnam VeteransDiamond Shamrock+1 morecorporate-corruptionwar-profiteeringhealth-crisisgovernment-deceptionaccountability-failure
Richard Nixon’s campaign secretly communicates with the South Vietnamese government to sabotage President Johnson’s Paris peace talks, with H.R. Haldeman’s notes documenting Nixon’s direct instruction to “keep Anna Chennault working on SVN [South Vietnam].” Nixon …
Richard NixonAnna ChennaultH.R. HaldemanJohn MitchellSouth Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu+2 moreelection-interferencegovernment-deceptioncorruptionwar-profiteeringinstitutional-corruption
Defense contractor profiteering from the Vietnam War reaches extraordinary levels as the RMK-BRJ construction consortium alone holds contracts officially estimated to reach at least $900 million by November 1967. Over 60% of all construction work in South Vietnam during the war is accomplished by …
Bell Helicopter’s revenue explodes from $150 million in 1962 to over $2 billion by 1967 as the company manufactures more than 100 Huey helicopters per month during the peak of the Vietnam War. The Bell UH-1 Huey becomes the defining symbol of U.S. involvement in Vietnam, with the conflict …
Bell HelicopterU.S. Department of DefenseVietnam Helicopter Pilots Associationwar-profiteeringmilitary-industrial-complexcorporate-corruptiongovernment-waste
Congress passes the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution with near-unanimous support (416-0 in the House, 88-2 in the Senate), granting President Johnson broad war powers to use military force in Southeast Asia without a formal declaration of war. The resolution responds to reported attacks on U.S. Navy …
President Lyndon B. JohnsonSecretary of Defense Robert McNamaraNational Security AgencyU.S. Congressmilitary-industrial-complexwar-profiteeringgovernment-deceptioninstitutional-captureintelligence-manipulation
The Truman Committee reveals that Curtiss-Wright’s Lockland, Ohio plant supplied defective aircraft engines to the Army Air Force through falsified tests, forged inspection reports, and collusion with military inspectors. Despite holding more defense contracts than any company except General …
Curtiss-Wright CorporationTruman CommitteeHarry S. TrumanArmy Air Forcewar-profiteeringdefense-industrycorporate-impunitycongressional-oversightinspector-general-failure
The Justice Department indicts Anaconda Wire and Cable Company and five employees for conspiracy to defraud the United States by supplying defective wire and cable for combat use. Lend-Lease shipments to the Soviet Union were 50% defective, prompting an official Soviet protest. Despite pleading …
Anaconda Wire and Cable CompanyDepartment of JusticeTruman CommitteeFrancis Biddlewar-profiteeringdefense-industrycorporate-impunityinstitutional-capture
Congress passes the Renegotiation Act on April 28, 1942, establishing a process to recapture “excessive profits” from war contractors. While presented as a check on war profiteering, the act’s weak enforcement mechanisms and industry-friendly implementation allow most excessive …
Senate hearings expose Standard Oil of New Jersey’s secret cartel agreements with IG Farben, the German chemical conglomerate that produces Zyklon B for Nazi concentration camps and uses slave labor from Auschwitz. Senator Harry Truman’s investigative committee reveals that Standard Oil …
Standard Oil of New JerseyIG FarbenHarry TrumanThurman ArnoldWalter Teagle+1 morecorporate-treasonwar-profiteeringcartelregulatory-captureantitrust-evasion+1 more
President Franklin D. Roosevelt creates the War Production Board (WPB) to coordinate wartime production, staffing it with corporate executives as ‘dollar-a-year men.’ This establishes a precedent for corporate-government partnership where business leaders shape government policy while …
Franklin D. RooseveltDonald NelsonWar Production BoardDefense contractorsWilliam Knudsencorporate-government-fusionwar-profiteeringrevolving-doordefense-industryinstitutional-capture
Ford Motor Company breaks ground on the Willow Run bomber plant near Ypsilanti, Michigan, on April 17, 1941. The facility, the largest factory under one roof in the world at over 3.5 million square feet, is built entirely with government funds through the Defense Plant Corporation but operated by …
Ford Motor CompanyHenry FordCharles SorensenWar DepartmentDefense Plant Corporationwar-profiteeringcorporate-subsidiesdefense-industrypublic-private-partnershipsmilitary-industrial-complex
Senator Harry S. Truman establishes the Senate Special Committee to Investigate the National Defense Program (Truman Committee) after witnessing widespread waste and profiteering in war production. Over the next four years, the committee will save an estimated $10-15 billion by uncovering fraud and …
Harry S. TrumanU.S. SenateDefense contractorswar-profiteeringcongressional-oversightdefense-industryinstitutional-accountability
Congress passes the Excess Profits Tax Act on October 8, 1940, establishing graduated taxes on corporate profits exceeding pre-war averages. While ostensibly designed to prevent war profiteering and ensure shared sacrifice, the legislation contains numerous loopholes secured through corporate …
CongressFranklin D. RooseveltTreasury DepartmentNational Association of ManufacturersU.S. Chamber of Commercewar-profiteeringtax-policycorporate-influenceregulatory-captureloopholes
Corporate profits explode during WWII mobilization, with the largest 200 corporations more than doubling annual profits from $576 million (1936-39) to $1.225 billion (1940-44) - a 113% increase. Cost-plus contracting allows companies to inflate costs with lavish executive salaries while earning …
U.S. corporationsGeneral MotorsSteel industryWar Industries BoardCharles E. Wilsonwar-profiteeringcorporate-powerdefense-industryexecutive-compensationcost-plus-contracts
President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Neutrality Act of 1939 on November 4, repealing the arms embargo provisions of earlier Neutrality Acts and allowing arms sales to belligerent nations on a “cash-and-carry” basis, effectively ending the policy designed to prevent American business …
Franklin D. RooseveltU.S. Congressarms manufacturersisolationistsBritain+1 morewar-profiteeringneutrality-actsworld-war-iicorporate-profitsmilitary-industrial-complex
The U.S. Senate Special Committee on Investigation of the Munitions Industry, chaired by Senator Gerald Nye (R-ND), begins operations on April 12, 1934, to investigate the financial and banking interests underlying American involvement in World War I and the enormous profits reaped by industrial and …
Gerald NyeU.S. SenateJ.P. Morgan Jr.Pierre du Pontmunitions manufacturers+1 morewar-profiteeringcorporate-corruptionmilitary-industrial-complexinvestigationsworld-war-i
A German U-boat torpedoed the British ocean liner RMS Lusitania about 11 nautical miles off the Old Head of Kinsale, Ireland, sinking the ship in just 18 minutes and killing approximately 1,200 of nearly 2,000 passengers and crew, including 128 Americans. The Germans had circulated warnings that the …
RMS LusitaniaGerman NavyBritish GovernmentJP Morgan & Co.American passengerswar-profiteeringworld-war-ijp-morganpropagandacorporate-negligence
In August 1914, as World War I erupted in Europe, JP Morgan & Co. approached the U.S. government about making loans to the French Government and the Rothschilds. Despite Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan’s principled position that “loans by American bankers to any foreign …
JP Morgan & Co.British GovernmentFrench GovernmentThomas LamontPresident Woodrow Wilson+1 morewar-profiteeringbanking-consolidationjp-morganworld-war-ifinancial-capture
The Spanish-American War’s largest scandal erupts as U.S. Army soldiers receive widespread distribution of extremely low-quality, heavily adulterated beef products from Chicago meatpacking corporations. General Nelson Miles denounces the meat as “embalmed beef,” describing how …
Russell A. AlgerWilliam McKinleyArmour & CoSwift & CoMorris & Co+2 moregilded-agecorruptionwar-profiteeringspanish-american-warcorporate-negligence+1 more
President Lincoln signs the False Claims Act into law on March 2, 1863, creating a revolutionary mechanism to combat rampant war profiteering after unscrupulous contractors sell the Union Army defective equipment including sawdust-filled crates instead of muskets, diseased mules, substandard …
Abraham LincolnU.S. CongressWar profiteersfalse-claims-actwar-profiteeringwhistleblower-protectionaccountabilityqui-tam
Throughout the Civil War, the Treasury Department’s cotton permit system—requiring federal authorization to purchase cotton in Confederate states—becomes a cesspool of corruption, particularly in the Mississippi Valley. Francis Preston Blair charges that Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase …
Treasury DepartmentCharles DanaAbraham LincolnSalmon P. ChaseFrancis Preston Blair+1 morecotton-tradetreasury-corruptionwar-profiteeringtrading-with-enemypermits
After Union naval forces under David G. Farragut capture New Orleans in spring 1862, General Benjamin F. Butler is appointed military governor of the occupied city, beginning one of the most controversial and corrupt episodes of the Civil War. Butler’s brief tenure becomes notorious for …
Benjamin F. ButlerAndrew ButlerDavid G. FarragutAbraham Lincolnmilitary-corruptionwar-profiteeringcotton-tradenew-orleansaccountability-failure
Simon Cameron submits his resignation as Secretary of War on January 11, 1862 (remaining until January 20), amid investigations into War Department procurement irregularities and cabinet disagreements over emancipation policy and patronage distribution. Lincoln appointed Cameron, a Pennsylvania …
Simon CameronAbraham LincolnEdwin M. StantonAlexander CummingsU.S. House of Representativeswar-profiteeringcorruptiongovernment-contractspatronageaccountability-failure
At 4:30 a.m. on April 12, 1861, Confederate batteries open fire on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, launching more than 4,000 rounds over 34 hours at the Union garrison commanded by Major Robert Anderson. The fort, which Anderson’s forces had occupied since December 26, 1860, …
Confederate States of AmericaJefferson DavisRobert AndersonAbraham LincolnJames Buchananfort-sumtercivil-warconfederacymilitary-conflictwar-profiteering
Throughout the Civil War, military suppliers systematically defraud the government and endanger Union soldiers by selling defective equipment and supplies in what becomes known as the “shoddy” scandal. Contractors sell boots made from cardboard that dissolve in rain, clothing made from …
War DepartmentUnion ArmyWar contractorsShoddy millionaireswar-profiteeringcontract-fraudcorruptiongovernment-contractsaccountability-failure
On January 4, 1847, Connecticut gun manufacturer Samuel Colt rescues the future of his faltering gun company by winning a contract to provide the U.S. government with 1,000 of his .44 caliber revolvers for use in the Mexican-American War. Colt had received a U.S. patent for a revolver mechanism in …
Samuel ColtSamuel WalkerU.S. governmentEli Whitney Jr.war-profiteeringmexican-american-wargovernment-contractsmilitary-industrial
The United States Congress declares war on Great Britain, initiating the War of 1812 ostensibly over British impressment of American sailors, trade restrictions, and western expansion conflicts. The declaration creates immediate opportunities for systematic profiteering, contractor fraud, and …
President James MadisonU.S. CongressBritish EmpireWar profiteerswar-profiteeringinstitutional-corruptionmilitary-industrial-complexcontractor-fraud