Iran War — Americans (Including Virginians) Are Paying the Price While the Trump Family Profits

By Michelle Moore, Bridge2Blue

War profiteering has become one of the defining scandals of the Iran war—especially shameful when the conflict has already killed at least 17 U.S. service members, wounded hundreds more, and driven up costs for ordinary Virginians.  Defense Secretary Hegseth estimated the war has already cost $37.5 billion and has defended President Donald Trump’s request for another $87.6 billion in supplemental funding.

Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and Jared Kushner are positioned to profit enormously from the war–—from government business, foreign-backed investment, and war-related financial opportunities.

Meanwhile, as this war drags on, Virginians are paying the price. The average household has spent an extra $2,600 more on everyday essentials, with fuel, utilities, and grocery bills rising considerably faster than inflation since the war began. And as of June 2026, the war in Iran, combined with drought and Federal program cuts, has significantly driven up costs for Virginia farmers. Farming operating costs have increased sharply with fertilizer alone up 40%.

Trump Brothers Positioned to Profit

Recent analysis found that companies backed by Trump Jr. and Eric Trump have generated at least $3.2 billion in direct government business and contracts since they became involved, with another $3.1 billion in future contract options, along with eligibility to bid on nearly $200 billion more. Eric and Trump Jr. are advisors and shareholders in American Ventures, which has invested in more than a dozen defense-technology and drone startups, including Powerus, a firm that raised $60 million since the Trumps took an interest and has its sights on a $1 billion contract to build drones.

Trump Jr. joined 1789 Capital as a partner in November 2024, and afterward several of its portfolio companies—including Cerebras, PsiQuantum, Firehawk Aerospace, and Vulcan Elements—reportedly received more than $70 million in federal contracts. Roughly three months after 1789 Capital took a stake in Vulcan Elements, the Pentagon announced a $620 million loan to Vulcan, the largest deal of its kind from that office. According to published reports, White House adviser Peter Navarro requested the loan for Vulcan. It is unusually concrete evidence supporting accusations of favoritism, self-dealing, and political intervention in military-related financing.

Foundation Future Industries, a robotics startup in which Eric Trump serves as chief strategy adviser, secured $24 million in Pentagon research contracts to test “Phantom” robots. This drew formal inquiries from U.S. Senators who demanded transparency from the Pentagon regarding the allocation of these funds. Eric Trump also holds a personal investment in Xtend, an Israeli attack drone firm that was included in a massive Pentagon push to purchase more than $1 billion in unmanned aerial vehicles.

Critics argue that these overlapping business interests are especially troubling because Trump Jr. reportedly helped screen Pentagon candidates who favored increased drone spending, potentially influencing the same procurement priorities from which he stands to benefit.

Jared Kushner’s Glaring Conflicts of Interest

Jared Kushner raises a different but equally serious set of concerns regarding his diplomatic role in the Middle East while simultaneously running Affinity Partners, a private investment firm whose assets under management reached $6.2 billion at the end of 2025. According to financial reporting, about 99 percent of the firm’s assets come from the same foreign governments, primarily sovereign wealth funds tied to Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Qatar, all of which have strategic interests in the outcome of the Iran war.

While participating in sensitive regional diplomacy, Kushner remains financially dependent on foreign investors . The Senate Finance Committee and House Oversight Committee have estimated that Affinity could collect roughly $137 million in management fees by August 2026 from foreign-backed investors, and House and Senate investigators have described Kushner’s overlapping official and private roles as a glaring conflict of interest worthy of formal inquiries.

What War Profiteering Accountability Could Look Like

The evidence shows that Trump family members have been positioned to profit, while service members and Virginians bear the human and financial costs of the war.  Virginians deserve accountability. Democrats in the House and Senate have been collecting and documenting evidence.

If Democrats regain control of the U.S. House and its oversight committee, they can use subpoena power to further investigate by demanding bank records, capitalization tables, contract files, and internal communications tracing how taxpayer money flowed from the Pentagon into firms backed by the president’s family. Hearings could force executives and officials to testify under oath, expose contracting irregularities, and build a public record strong enough to support recovery of taxpayer funds, require recusals, and advance ethics reforms. Aggressive oversight could make war profiteering politically and financially harder to sustain by forcing transparency on deals that have so far operated in the shadows. Virginians should not be left paying the bill while the well-connected cash in. They deserve representatives who will expose war profiteering and hold those responsible accountable.