By: Desirée Cormier Smith and Kelly M. Fay Rodríguez

Read in: Ms. Magazine

As we wait for the details of the U.S.-Iran deal that aims to end Trump’s highly unpopular war, we cannot forget who really stands to gain from the death and destruction: the Trump family, who has been quietly profiting from a war that nobody asked for and nobody wanted.

Over the past months, Trump’s unqualified son-in-law, Jared Kushner, has been leading negotiations with Iran while personally raising billions of dollars from neighboring countries with a stake in the outcomes of this war. The Trump family is raking in profits while thousands of innocent people are killed as a result of U.S. government actions (including least 168 students and teachers killed in the horrifying Minab school bombing on Feb. 28).

In fact, a draft peace deal with Iran included a $300 billion post-war “investment fund” for real estate development and other investments for U.S. companies to rebuild on the destruction left by this gratuitous war, according to recent reports.

This is just one example of how this administration is weaponizing U.S. foreign policy to build the wealth of its leaders, at the expense of everyone else.

Since taking office,  Trump’s personal net worth has grown by $3 billion, while Americans pay more at the gas pump and the grocery store. That’s not a coincidence—it’s a business model.

He set this tone in his 2025 inauguration, opting for a closed-door ceremony filled with his personal posse of tech elites who donated millions to his inaugural celebration, all while his supporters were kept outside in below-freezing temperatures. Looking back, this was a preview of how his administration would approach foreign policy: putting billionaires over working families, vulnerable people and poor people at home and around the world.

To be fair, U.S. foreign policy has always been largely opaque and has felt distant from the issues affecting people at home. Leaders from both parties have played a role in fueling this distrust by filling certain government roles with political donors and adopting policies that were largely unpopular, including the Biden administration’s continued military and diplomatic support for Israel’s months-long destruction of Gaza, despite growing public opposition.

However, now more than ever, Trump’s foreign policy puts money over morals—and it’s hurting Americans, especially those who are already struggling to get by and increasingly concerned about affordability.

Trump’s “strong man” cosplay in waging his unconstitutional, unpopular war with Iran comes at the expense of America’s working families: Gas prices have skyrocketed, increasing the cost of everything from transportation to basic necessities.

But for Trump’s billionaire friends—some of whom are getting even richer because of the war—higher prices are barely a nuisance.

While 2025 was the most lucrative year for Trump of his life, it marked the end of U.S.-provided lifesaving humanitarian aid for the poorest and most vulnerable people around the world thanks to billionaire Elon Musk’s destruction of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Forbes estimated the Trump family doubled its net worth to top $10 billion. A significant portion of this money is believed to have come from crypto and partnerships with wealthy companies in the Middle East, which is where Kushner is running free without accountability.

Despite being a “peace envoy,” Kushner is not an official U.S. government employee. Though the Trump administration likes to hail his volunteer status as a savings to the U.S. taxpayer, it allows Kushner to avoid being subject to the required financial disclosures to ensure he does not have any conflicts of interest.

Kushner simultaneously maintains his full-time job as the head of a multibillion dollar venture capital firm, Affinity Partners. About 99 percent of the company’s $61 billion in assets are held by non-U.S. investors, including the Saudi sovereign wealth fund.

Without filing a public financial disclosure or divesting from any conflicting assets—like all U.S. senior executive branch officials and political appointees have been required to do for almost 50 years—the public cannot be sure if Kushner is working in the interests of the American people or his own personal investments.

Trump’s sons Donald Jr., Eric and even Barron (still in college) have all multiplied their wealth many times over since their father took office again.

And their pockets are not only being fattened by unknown foreign investors—they are also enriching themselves with our tax dollars. U.S. government dollars have fueled Trump family businesses by sending payments to Trump-owned resorts, slapping his name onto state institutions and diverting public funds to his so-called Board of Peace, where he circumvents government accountability for spending and conveniently serves as the board chair for life.

Trump has turned foreign policy into a profit center, one where public resources flow to private pockets, taxpayer dollars fund family businesses and the rules that constrain everyone else simply do not apply to him or his inner circle.

We need a new system based on two basic principles:

• Foreign policy should promote peace and improve people’s well-being. That would mean refraining from senseless, immoral wars and leveraging foreign policy to create global conditions where all people can thrive.
• Never again should billionaires dictate the rules or profit off the preventable deaths of vulnerable populations. A foreign policy rooted in fairness and anti-corruption would focus on reducing conflict and instead invest in global infrastructure, good union jobs, and peace-building initiatives that promote global collaboration, fair trade and human rights.

U.S. foreign policy has long been flawed for its lack of transparency and its notoriously anti-democratic nature, yet Trump has taken it to new lows.

While billionaires, including Trump and his family, all grow richer thanks to his foreign policy choices, Americans face the economic consequences of higher costs and rising gas prices, and the most vulnerable people around the world suffer even more.