‘A golden opportunity right now based on who’s in government.’ Trump’s bellicose presidency means defense firms are raking it in

The list of winners from the Iran war is a relatively short one. Belligerents are at an impasse , fuel consumers worldwide remain on the hook, and business leaders are nervously waiting to see whether the economy can emerge without tumbling into recession . Despite this, there is one sector where business is booming. U.S. defense companies are soaring, and not just because of war in the Middle East. In addition to fighting the conflict, the Defense Department is looking to restock dwindling stores of weapons and munitions. Many of these were used up in the U.S. military’s opening salvo against Iran, but armament commitments to other countries including Ukraine have also depleted supplies. The upshot is orders worth billions of dollars from the Pentagon, and defense contractors are more than ready to do business. “The administration’s prioritization of defense industrial-based investment and modernization spending provides a constructive backdrop as we execute,” Jim Taiclet, CEO of defense firm Lockheed Martin , said during an earnings call Thursday. “This is a golden opportunity right now based on who’s in government, their experience, their willingness to change the demand that they have for what we do,” he added. President Donald Trump’s Pentagon has been the most spend-happy of recent years. For 2026, Congress allocated a record $901 billion to the department run by Pete Hegseth. Earlier this year, Trump submitted his budget request for 2027 defense spending: an enormous $1.5 trillion war chest, a 40% increase that Trump himself said would likely mean budget cuts to federally funded domestic programs including Medicaid and Medicare. That mammoth sum includes tens of billions for new ships and jets, as well as $18 billion for the “Golden Dome” missile defense system Trump announced last year, but doesn’t account for the bulk of mounting costs tied to U.S. involvement in Iran. The budget was finalized before the conflict began , and as the war stretched from days …