This interview is also available on podcast platforms and Rumble.
The military-industrial-complex (MIC) is unique in its ability to pull untold flows of tax revenue into “defensive” infrastructure that benefits no one other than the private sector manufacturing and investing in it. The machine, which perpetuates itself through an incestuous milieu that lobbies for war and defense spending, wages psychological warfare on citizens and engages in corrupt backroom deals, has risen to once unthinkable heights of influence and power since Dwight D. Eisenhower first warned Americans of its growing presence in 1961.
Political scientist William D. Hartung joins this episode of The Chris Hedges Report to discuss his and Ben Freeman’s new book, The Trillion Dollar War Machine, which contextualizes the growth of the MIC behind the backdrop of Silicon Valley’s increasing radicalism and integration into American military infrastructure, as well as the Trump administration’s chaotic and unabashed foreign policy.
These tech elites push for automated warfare, domestic surveillance, and the full diffusion of any line still separating the corporate and public sectors. In essence, they symbolize how significantly Western capital has grown since Eisenhower’s warning — bolstering a corporate state bent on maximizing profit through warfare and manufacturing reliance on its often faulty products both in the public and private sector.
Empowered by the Trump administration, the trillion dollar war machine only looks to grow — and Hartung says that it will harm the entire nation in its endless quest for domination.
Host
Chris Hedges
Producer:
Max Jones
Intro:
Max Jones
Crew:
Diego Ramos, Sofia Menemenlis and Victor Castellanos
Photos
Sir Arnold J Toynbee
Historian Sir Arnold J Toynbee and his wife pictured at an event, circa 1955. (Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
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Uber, X and The Free Press host Inauguration Eve
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President Eisenhower Returning from Geneva Conference
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Pro-Palestine demonstrators protest arms sales to Israel at US contractor headquarters
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Portrait of William Proxmire
Closeup shot of Senator William Proxmire looking slightly to the right.
Frank Church Speaking to Newsmen
(Original Caption) Senator Frank church (D-Idaho), chairman of the Senate Select committee on Intelligence, tells newsmen July 10 that his committee, which has been investigating CIA activities, has been getting Excellent cooperation from the White house. But he said the F.B.I. had not turned over material requested nearly two months ago.
Rep. James Abourezk
Rep. James Abourezk, R-S.D. 2nd District. 1972 (Photo by Dev O’Neill/CQ Roll Call via Getty Images)”n
George McGovern Campaign
MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE – 1984: Presidential Candidate and former Senator George McGovern campaigns for the US presidency in Manchester, New Hampshire in 1984. (Photo by Mikki Ansin/Getty Images)
LGM-30 Minuteman III VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. — An LGM-30 Minuteman III missile soars in the air after a test launch.
The LGM-30 Minuteman is a U.S. land-based intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), in service with the Air Force Global Strike Command. (Photo by: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Eisenhower Greets Kennedy At The White House
US President Dwight Eisenhower (1890 – 1969) (left) shakes hands with President-elect John F Kennedy (1917 – 1963) on the steps of the White House, Washington DC, December 6, 1960. (Photo by Warren K Leffler/US News and World Report Magazine Photograph Collection/PhotoQuest/Getty Images)
Donald Trump Holds Campaign Rally At Madison Square Garden In NYC
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Oculus Rift Location Shoot, Menlo Park
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South Korea and US Hold Combined Air Drills
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Republican Vice Presidential Candidate JD Vance Delivers Remarks In Philadelphia
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William Proxmire Holding Large Stack of Documents
(Original Caption) Senator William Proxmire, (D-Wisc.), opened a one man fight against Senate Confirmation of Lawrence J. O’Connor by charging that his appointment as a Federal power Commissioner was “really shocking.”
ICE Patrols Chicago Neighborhoods For Undocumented Immigrants
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Congressional Democrats Reintroduce The Medicare For All Act
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Former Maine congressman Tom Andrews addresses a crowd of several hundred at a Bring Out Troops Home
Staff Photo by John Ewing: 20070428 — Saturday, April 28, 2007 — .Former Maine congressman Tom Andrews addresses a crowd of several hundred at a Bring Out Troops Home rally at Post Office Park in Portland on Saturday morning. (Photo by John Ewing/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images)
HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr Testifies At Senate Finance Hearing
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USS Independence
KEY WEST, FL – MARCH 29: In this photo provided by the U.S. Navy, the Navy’s newest littoral combat ship USS Independence (LCS-2) arrives at Mole Pier March 29, 2010 at Naval Air Station Key West in Key West, Florida. (Photo by Nicholas Kontodiakos/U.S. Navy via Getty Images)
MV-22 Osprey Helicopter
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Mike Pence Addresses Republican Jewish Coalition Meeting In Las Vegas
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TOPSHOT-YEMEN-PALESTINIAN-ISRAEL-CONFLICT-JERUSALEM DAY
TOPSHOT – Supporters of Yemen’s Huthi rebels attend a gathering to mark annual Quds (Jerusalem) Day commemorations in Sanaa on March 28, 2025 (Photo by Mohammed HUWAIS / AFP) (Photo by MOHAMMED HUWAIS/AFP via Getty Images)
Students shouting slogans, gather in an encampment protest…
WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, UNITED STATES – 2024/04/26: Students shouting slogans, gather in an encampment protest at George Washington University. (Photo by Probal Rashid/LightRocket via Getty Images)
TOPSHOT-PALESTINIAN-ISRAEL-CONFLICT
TOPSHOT – Palestinians try to put out a fire at the emergency department of the Nasser hospital after it was hit in an Israeli airstrike, in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on March 23, 2025. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)
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Photo of Johnny Carson
UNSPECIFIED – CIRCA 1960: Photo of Johnny Carson Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Selma to Montgomery Alabama March
MONTGOMERY, AL – MARCH 25: Dr Martin Luther King Jr speaking before crowd of 25,000 Selma To Montgomery, Alabama civil rights marchers, in front of Montgomery, Alabama state capital building. On March 25, 1965 in Montgomery, Alabama. (Photo by Stephen F. Somerstein/Getty Images)
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President Bush Names Powell As Joint Chiefs Of Staff Chairman
US Army General Colin L Powell (1937 – 2021 (fore) speaks in the Rose Garden of the White House, Washington DC, August 10, 1989. He had just been named Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman. Behind him is US Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney. (Photo by Ron Sachs/CNP/Getty Images)
President of Iraq Saddam Hussein
The president of Iraq, Saddam Hussein, in 1981.
Burning Oil Wells
View of burning oil wells, Kuwait, 1991. (Photo by Allan Tannenbaum/Getty Images)
President Jimmy Carter Seated at Desk
(Original Caption) 4/25/1980- Washington, DC: A grim-faced President Jimmy Carter, seated at desk in Oval Office of White House tells of the aborted rescue effort intended to get the 53 American hostages out of Iran. Carter said the mission was scrubbed after an “equipment failure” and that no military hostilities occurred.
Zbigniew Brzezinski
Zbigniew Brzezinski, who has been appointed US President-elect Jimmy Carter’s National Security Advisor, in Washington, January 5th 1977. Carter can be seen on the podium behind Brzezinski. (Photo by UPI/Bettmann Archive/Getty Images)
Thomas G. Pownall;John S. Herrington;Ronald W. Reagan;James A. Abrahamson
Mock-up of experimental SDI spacecraft in rear as President Ronald W. Reagan (L) delivers speech on SDI at Martin Marietta Astronautics plant flanked by panel of SDI experts, General James A. Abrahamson, Energy Secretary John S. Herrington and Company (Photo by Dirck Halstead/Getty Images)
General Eisenhower
General Eisenhower, former US President, speaking at a press conference at the Savoy Hotel, London, August 15th 1962. (Photo by Moore/Fox Photos/Getty Images)
INDIA-POLITICS-DEFENCE-MILITARY
Members of offensive swarm drone system fly drones to demonstrate skills during a ceremony to celebrate India’s 73rd Army Day in New Delhi on January 15, 2021. (Photo by Prakash SINGH / AFP) (Photo by PRAKASH SINGH/AFP via Getty Images)
This post has been syndicated from The Chris Hedges Report, where it was published under this address.