The Trillion Dollar War Machine: How Runaway Military Spending Drives America Into Foreign Wars and Bankrupts Us at Home -- William D. Hartung, Hardcover

A hard-hitting investigation into how the Pentagon's runaway spending embroils America in foreign wars, squanders its wealth, and enriches a privileged elite

America spends nearly a trillion dollars a year on its military. This extraordinary spending not only detracts from our ability to address pressing social problems but compels us into foreign wars to justify our vast arsenal. Sold to us in the name of "security," our military industrial complex actually makes us far less safe.

Top policy experts William D. Hartung and Ben Freeman follow the profits of militarism from traditional Pentagon contractors, which receive more than half of the Pentagon's budget, to the upstart high-tech firms that shamelessly promote unproven and destabilizing technologies. They unmask the enablers of the war machine--politicians, lobbyists, the media, Hollywood, think tanks, and so many more--whose work enriches a wealthy elite at the expense of everybody else, spreading conflict around the world and embroiling America in endless wars.

A damning tour de force, The Trillion Dollar War Machine shows who is pulling the strings and pushing for war, and offers a blueprint for how we can shut down the war machine and restore American security and prosperity.


Author: William D. Hartung, Ben Freeman
Publisher: Bold Type Books
Published: 11/11/2025
Pages: 336
Binding Type: Hardcover
ISBN: 9781645030638

About the Author

William D. Hartung is a senior fellow at the Quincy Institute, focusing on the arms industry and military spending. He is the author of Prophets of War and resides in New York City.

Ben Freeman, director of democratizing foreign policy at the Quincy Institute, holds a PhD from Texas A&M. He focuses on investigating money in politics, military spending, and foreign influence. He lives in central Florida.