CEOs of arms manufacturers and their investors are confident about their prospects, regardless of which candidate wins the election.
This summer, Dave Calhoun, CEO of Boeing—builder of the intercontinental ballistic missile—declared himself cheerfully indifferent to the presidential election. “I think both candidates, at least in my view, appear globally oriented and interested in the defense of our country and I believe they’ll support the industries,” he said on a media call. So don’t expect any official endorsements from him and his colleagues. “I don’t think we’re going to take a position on one being better than the other,” he concluded. While many industries fret over how potential election outcomes could affect their profits, US military contractors like Boeing—whose Apache helicopter is seen killing civilians in Wikileaks’ infamous “Collateral Murder” video—are directly and indirectly funding both President Trump and former vice president Biden’s campaigns….
It’s difficult to imagine that the wealthiest investors in the world disburse millions of dollars to political campaigns without the occasional peep at their portfolios. The institutional logic at work here is such that, no matter the outcome of Tuesday’s vote, the occupant of the White House for the next four years will be there thanks in considerable part to people with a stake in Boeing, Raytheon, and Lockheed’s earnings.
War industry firms themselves directly donate to candidates in a fairly bipartisan fashion. Aerospace companies in the war business focus their political donations on members of the House and Senate Appropriations subcommittees, which dole out federal money, and on members of the Armed Services committees, who help shape military policy and thus can create demand for what this industry sells. Of the money this sector has donated to 2020 presidential candidates, slightly more has gone to Trump. Yet the opposite is true of “defense” electronics, the field concerned with components and systems designed to ensure technological supremacy in war. Companies working in this arena have given more to Biden than to Trump, even though this sector has tended in the past to direct its money to the party in power. CRP numbers that take into account PACs and individuals who gifted $200 or more to candidates show that the weapons industry as a whole has given $1.6 million to Trump and $2.4 million to Biden.
While Trump has made a show of disavowing any involvement in quid pro quos with American corporations like Exxon, it’s safe to say that major industry sees government as a source of opportunity. Arms dealers and their patrons are no exception; they exist to make money. They don’t pour cash into the political system out of pure ideological commitment—they expect a return on investment. Whoever is inaugurated in January, companies whose profits depend on the US military can be expected to have his ear.
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