Empire’s Last Gasp: Trump’s Promise of "Peace” Is A Guise For Profit

The world's most bloated war machine, which defined its global hegemony, is sputtering. In a final act of delusion it’s framing its downward spiral as a noble sacrifice and 'push for peace.'

Donald Trump, the man who once bragged about having a nuclear button “bigger” than Kim Jong-un’s, now wants to sit down with China and Russia to slash military budgets in half.

“One of the first meetings I want to have is with President Xi of China, President Putin of Russia. And I want to say, let’s cut our military budget in half,” Trump announced.

The world's most bloated war machine, the very thing that defined its global hegemony, is sputtering. And yet, in a final act of delusion, it seeks to frame its own downward spiral as a noble sacrifice, a so-called 'push for peace.'

And Trump—a man whose entire political brand is wrapped in the American flag, a parade of tanks, and an insatiable appetite for “winning” at all costs—now wants to disarm?

Trump’s America: The Great Unraveling

Seventeen days in, and Trump is already boasting: “We’ve accomplished what some people haven’t accomplished in eight years.” His team laughs, knowing they have 18 months to reshape America in their image—no compromises, no hesitation. Then it is time for the midterms, where they can cement their grip further.

Project 2025: The Blueprint for Authoritarianism

Trump has always resented the checks and balances that limited his power. Now that he has the map, he is dismantling them. Project 2025—crafted by the Heritage Foundation and 80 other conservative groups, bankrolled by billionaires like the Koch brothers and Leonard Leo—isn’t just a wish list. It’s an operational manual for institutionalizing Trumpism. And that seems To be exactly what he is doing.

The goal? Unchecked presidential power, a weakened federal administration, and the systematic gutting of agencies Trump calls the “deep state” — the CIA, FBI, and DOJ. Every institutional safeguard, stripped away in the name of efficiency. This is all being done under the guise of “draining the swamp.” But what does it actually leave behind? A corporate free-for-all, where the working class—already abandoned by a technocratic elite—will likely be left with nothing but slogans.

An Extraordinary—but Hollow—Proposal

In theory, cutting military spending would be a victory for everyone except arms dealers and war hawks who profit from endless conflict. The U.S. spends more on its military than the next ten nations combined, funneling half of the federal discretionary budget into the Pentagon’s bottomless pit—a pit by the way that has failed seven consecutive audits.

If Trump were serious, this would be a seismic shift, a tectonic rejection of the war economy that has sustained American hegemony for decades.

The Math Doesn’t Add Up

If as Trump suggested, the U.S., China, and Russia all agreed to this 50% cut, America would still be spending more than double what China and Russia spend combined. Even at half-price, Washington remains the world’s leading arms dealer, the patron saint of perpetual war. This is not an invitation to peace—it’s a sales pitch wrapped in diplomacy.

Perhaps a spending cap based on GDP—say, 1.5% across the board—would level the playing field given that the US spends about 3.5% of its GDP, while China is below 2% and Russia is at around 6%. But Trump’s proposal doesn’t touch on such details, because details are never the point with him.

A Contradictory Arms Race

Strangely, while Trump floats this fantasy of global disarmament, he is simultaneously demanding NATO allies increase their defense budgets to 5% of GDP, a move that would double military expenditures across Europe, ensuring a continued flow of cash into the U.S. arms industry. Also the same man whose administration branded China a “strategic competitor” and pumped billions into military alliances to counter its influence.

His administration is already signaling that he might lower this demand—so long as Europe agrees to buy more weapons from American defense contractors, which begs the question, is it a drawdown or an arms race?

The Reality of Trump’s Military Doctrine

Let’s not forget: it was Trump’s administration that scrapped the “Asia-Pacific Rebalance” in favor of the “Indo-Pacific Strategy,” explicitly positioning China as America’s top adversary. It was under Trump that the U.S. doubled down on military containment, flooded Taiwan with weapons, and strengthened military alliances like the Quad to counter Beijing. It was under Trump that the U.S. pursued nuclear rearmament, walking away from key arms control agreements. So now, suddenly has Trump has seen the light?

If you listen closely, his contradictions stack higher than the Pentagon’s black-budget ledger. “There’s no reason for us to be building brand-new nuclear weapons,” he says, moments before lamenting that China is “trying to catch up” and “will be even within five or six years.” What exactly is the message here? That nuclear proliferation is bad, but the U.S. should maintain its supremacy? That we should build fewer nukes, but keep enough to destroy the world a hundred times over?

But if Trump were serious, shouldn’t he be talking about dismantling the 750+ U.S. military bases sprawled across the globe? About reversing America’s Indo-Pacific expansion, about halting the warships, war games, and weapons shipments that make up Washington’s daily rituals of provocation?

The Mirage of “Greatness”

Trump’s “Make America Great Again” fantasy is rooted in a longing for a whitewashed, prosperous 1950s America that never really existed. It’s a nostalgia project wrapped in populist rage, where the only vision for the future is a return to the past.

His “America First” doctrine is no different. On the surface, it reads like isolationism. But in practice, it’s an assertion of dominance—a demand that the world fall in line with America’s vision of order, enforced by military might. And while Trump speaks of reducing defense spending, his administration moves in the opposite direction, ensuring for example that Israel’s war machine grinds on, uninterrupted.

The Economy of Control

If one in four Americans is functionally unemployed, and the Trump administration is slashing social services while funneling billions into foreign wars and corporate subsidies—when does the breaking point arrive? When do Americans finally revolt against the system Trump claims to be dismantling but might actually be rebranding, while fortifying?

Republican Presidential candidate former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to attendees during a campaign rally at the Johnny Mercer Theatre on September 24, 2024 in Savannah, Georgia. BRANDON BELL / Getty Images

Trump’s movement isn’t just about attacking elites. It’s about an authoritarian restructuring of America, justified through a manufactured crisis of legitimacy. He tells his base that democracy is broken, that law and order must be restored by force, that only he can fix what’s been corrupted. Meanwhile, faith in institutions crumbles. Trust in the judiciary, the media, the very concept of shared truth—eroded.

But perhaps nothing reveals the hollowness of his so-called anti-establishment stance more than his latest imperial ambition: the U.S. takeover of Gaza.

Empire by Any Other Name

Never mind that a Zeteo-Data for Progress poll shows nearly two-thirds of Americans oppose the U.S. taking over Gaza, or that even a majority of Republicans reject sending American troops. Never mind that White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt claims Trump has “not committed” to putting U.S. boots on the ground. Because the boots are already there. They just don’t have laces.

Two private U.S.-registered security firms have been contracted to oversee operations in the Netzarim Corridor, a checkpoint splitting northern and southern Gaza. The Guardian identified one of them, UG Solutions, as actively recruiting 100 former U.S. special forces soldiers—tasked with inspecting vehicles carrying Gazan refugees trying to return to what’s left of their homes.

The second firm, Safe Reach Solutions (SRS), is even more opaque. A Wyoming-based “logistics and strategic planning” company with no known personnel, no past projects, no real footprint—later revealed to be a front for a generational wealth management firm.

And then, there’s Erik Prince. The godfather of American mercenaries, the man whose private army massacred Iraqi civilians in Nisour Square, now presiding over a WhatsApp group of 400 right-wing media figures, ex-officials, and war profiteers. Within the chat, his business partner at Unplugged, Michael Yudelson, suggested using chemical munitions indiscriminately to “burn all those bastards” in Hamas’s tunnels.

And all of this is happening as Israel bans UNRWA operations in Gaza, with the U.S. eagerly cutting funding to the only humanitarian lifeline left.

So, what is Trump actually building? A leaner, more efficient government? A retreat from endless wars? A system that finally works for the American people? Or is this just empire in a new form—war privatized, power consolidated, dissent criminalized, and the working class left to rot?

The Empire Rebrands: Trump’s Gaza Takeover Fantasy

While Trump makes a spectacle of talking down the Pentagon’s budget, he simultaneously proposes an imperial project straight out of a dystopian fever dream: the U.S. “taking over” Gaza. With a straight face, he declares, “The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip… We’ll own it.” His grand vision? Level the ruins, erase the history, and build an economic development zone—as if Gaza were a vacant lot in Atlantic City waiting for a Trump-branded casino.

For a man who supposedly eschews empire, this is imperialism in its purest form: the belief that America can bulldoze its way into foreign lands, dictate the terms of reconstruction, and call it “peace.” The echoes of Iraq and Afghanistan are deafening, where billions were poured into “rebuilding” efforts that yielded little more than corruption, insurgency, and bloodshed. Never mind that Gaza has already been bombed into near oblivion by a U.S.-funded Israeli war machine. And if history is any indication, this latest fantasy will follow the same trajectory—grand proclamations, strategic blunders, and ultimately, violent failure.