The United States is a major hypocrite when it comes to nuclear weapons. The bone of contention in Iran is supposedly nuclear weapons; however, the US spends more money on nukes than all other countries combined.
This new report comes as the US considers deploying some of its nuclear weapons to additional North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member states in Europe, according to a Financial Times [behind a paywall] report last week. The outlet said US officials had discussed expanding the nuclear-sharing arrangement beyond its current participants.
In 2025, the spending on nuclear weapons in the US surged by a quarter compared to the previous year, according to findings by an anti-nuclear watchdog, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN).
The US remained by far the biggest spender on nuclear weapons. It spends $69.2 billion on its nuclear arsenal, which came to more than all other eight nations with a nuclear program combined. Washington also recorded the largest annual increase, with spending rising 22% year-on-year, or $12.4 billion, according to a report by RT.
In a report released on Tuesday, ICAN said that the world’s nine nuclear-armed states spent nearly $119 billion on their arsenals last year, which is the equivalent of $3,768 every second.
After the US, China spent the most on its nuclear arsenal. It spent of $13.5 billion, which is about a third of what the US is “investing.” The United Kingdom overtook Russia as the third-largest spender, allocating $12.6 billion compared to Moscow’s $9.5 billion.
Combined spending by the US, Russia, China, the UK, France, India, Pakistan, Israel, and North Korea jumped 19% year-on-year, or $16.8 billion, to a record high.
North Korea has long sought to build its nuclear arsenal, as it considers both South Korea and the US threats to its sovereignty.
North Korea Vows To Build Up Its Nuclear Arsenal
Have you wondered how far that money spent could have gone to feed or help people, rather than house weapons that could vaporize them? ICAN said that nuclear weapons spending in 2025 could have provided food for two million people for a year, while annual spending could have covered the United Nations’ regular budget for 32 years.
Sadly, there is always money for war, but never enough money for food.