{"id":8105,"date":"2025-05-15T08:59:04","date_gmt":"2025-05-15T13:59:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/?p=8105"},"modified":"2025-05-15T08:59:07","modified_gmt":"2025-05-15T13:59:07","slug":"weapons-for-tyrants-trumps-142-billion-arms-deal-with-saudi-arabia-is-a-bonanza-for-war-and-a-betrayal-of-humanity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/weapons-for-tyrants-trumps-142-billion-arms-deal-with-saudi-arabia-is-a-bonanza-for-war-and-a-betrayal-of-humanity\/","title":{"rendered":"Weapons for Tyrants: Trump\u2019s $142 Billion Arms Deal with Saudi Arabia Is a Bonanza for War and a Betrayal of Humanity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"\">In a world crying out for peace, justice, and sustainability, the U.S. government has just chosen to fund more war by starting an arms deal with Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">This week, President Donald Trump announced what the White House is calling \u201cthe largest defense sales agreement in history\u201d: a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/record-u-s-arms-sale-saudi?utm_source=Common+Dreams&amp;utm_campaign=3eb9fc5e43-Top+News%3A+Tues.+5%2F13%2F25&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_term=0_-c56d0ea580-600772321\" title=\"\"><strong>$142 billion weapons deal with Saudi Arabia<\/strong>.<\/a> The sale involves nearly a dozen major U.S. weapons manufacturers, including Lockheed Martin, Boeing, RTX (formerly Raytheon), and Northrop Grumman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">The arms package, covering everything from fighter jets and missile defense systems to surveillance and communication tech, is framed as a boost for \u201csecurity\u201d and \u201ceconomic partnership.\u201d But make no mistake: <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/5\/13\/us-and-saudi-arabia-agree-to-142bn-weapons-sale-during-trump-visit\" title=\"\">this is a gift to war profiteers and authoritarian regimes at the expense of global peace and human rights.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Arms Deal is <strong>Propping Up a Brutal Regime<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">The Trump administration\u2019s decision to arm the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cato.org\/commentary\/new-crown-prince-saudi-arabia-doubles-down-political-repression-regional-aggression\" title=\"\"><strong>Saudi monarchy\u2014led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman\u2014is not just morally indefensible, it\u2019s strategically disastrous.<\/strong> <\/a>The Crown Prince is directly implicated in the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, as well as numerous human rights violations, including the bombing of civilians in Yemen and the execution of political dissidents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">As Trump fawned over the Crown Prince in Riyadh\u2014saying, \u201cI like him too much, that\u2019s why we give so much\u201d\u2014millions of people around the world heard the message loud and clear: <strong>U.S. foreign policy is for sale to the highest bidder.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Trump thanks Saudi Crown Prince for \u2018special relationship\u2019 in historic summit\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/TC3B77t-IP8?start=290&#038;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Who Benefits from this Arms Deal?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Let\u2019s be clear about who this deal is for:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/dereksaul\/2024\/10\/01\/defense-stocks-hit-all-time-highs-amid-middle-east-escalation\/\" title=\"\">Weapons contractors<\/a><\/strong>, whose stock prices soar with every new conflict;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foodandwaterwatch.org\/2025\/04\/01\/musk-trump-tech-oil-oligarchs\/\" title=\"\">Oil-rich oligarchs<\/a><\/strong>, whose repressive regimes are now flush with advanced U.S. firepower;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.niskanencenter.org\/are-we-overproducing-elites-and-instability\/\" title=\"\">Political elites<\/a><\/strong>, who continue to build personal fortunes on global instability.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Who loses?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.middleeasteye.net\/live-blog\/live-blog-update\/report-four-children-among-25-civilians-killed-week-us-bombing-yemen\" title=\"\"><strong>The Yemeni children living under bombs<\/strong>;<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/nulawreview.org\/volume-14-issue-2-articles\/diaz-birca\" title=\"\">The dissidents silenced or killed by Saudi forces<\/a><\/strong>;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/a-trillion-for-war-invest-in-people-not-provocation\/\" title=\"\">The American public<\/a><\/strong>, whose tax dollars fuel endless wars instead of healthcare, education, or climate solutions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The Cost of Militarism<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">This arms deal represents everything the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/\" title=\"\">Peace Economy Project opposes<\/a><\/strong>: the normalization of militarized foreign policy, the subsidizing of human rights abusers, and the false narrative that security comes from weapons rather than diplomacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">While Trump jokes about asking Saudi Arabia to invest $1 trillion, Americans are told we \u201ccan\u2019t afford\u201d public broadcasting, Medicaid, or school lunches. This is not a matter of budget\u2014it\u2019s a matter of priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Where Is Congress?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">In 2019, a bipartisan Congress tried to stop a similar arms deal. Trump vetoed it. Now, with an even larger agreement on the table, Congress must act again. We cannot allow the executive branch to hand over weapons of war without public debate or accountability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Our Call to Action<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">At Peace Economy Project, we call for:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"\"><strong>An immediate halt to the Saudi arms deal<\/strong>;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\"><strong>A full investigation into the influence of foreign governments on U.S. policy<\/strong>;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\"><strong>A redirection of public funds from the military-industrial complex toward human needs<\/strong>;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\"><strong>A reinvestment in diplomacy, international cooperation, and peacebuilding<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">The U.S. should not be in the business of enabling authoritarian violence. We should be leading the world away from war\u2014not arming it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Take Action:<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">\ud83d\udce2<a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/members\/find-your-member\" title=\"\"> Contact your members of Congress <\/a>and demand they oppose the $142 billion Saudi arms deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">\u270a <a href=\"https:\/\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/get-involved\/\" title=\"\">Join us in building a peace economy<\/a>\u2014where public money funds justice, not jets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Trump\u2019s $142 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia is a gift to war profiteers and a betrayal of human rights. While public needs go unfunded weapons flow freely.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7857,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8],"tags":[394,393,259,395,396],"class_list":["post-8105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-arms-deal-disaster","tag-no-to-war-profiteering","tag-peace-economy","tag-saudi-arabia","tag-trump-weapons-deal"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/pexels-photo-12110452.jpeg?fit=1880%2C1056&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8105"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8105\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8106,"href":"https:\/\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8105\/revisions\/8106"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}