Trump funds the hammer to subsidize Netanyahu's massacre
By Aoife Gallagher · Reporting from Dublin ·
There is a particular kind of arrogance that only the world’s sole superpower can afford: the belief that a rule is a suggestion when it suits the powerful, and a cage when it applies to the small.
The United States often treats international rules as suggestions for the powerful and cages for the small.
The Trump administration now applies this philosophy to the Middle East. Al Jazeera and AP News report that Washington is moving forward with a weapons sale to Israel worth nearly three billion dollars—roughly the annual budget of a mid-sized American city. The deal delivers forty thousand bombs, each weighing one ton.
| Munition | Quantity | Purpose | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | MK-84 | 20,000 | General purpose | | BLU-117 | 20,000 | General purpose | | I-2000 | Included | Bunker penetration |
American taxpayers fund this purchase through Foreign Military Financing. Washington pays for the steel and then gifts it to Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. This creates a closed loop where US tax dollars buy the munitions that the administration then hands over to the Israeli military, reversing the pause Joe Biden attempted in 2024.
Desert Logic in a City Street
The administration justifies the sale by citing the need to destroy "hardened" infrastructure. Proponents argue that Hamas and Hezbollah hide in deep concrete shafts and subterranean bunkers that precision strikes cannot reach. They claim the military needs tools to crush these targets, regardless of what stands on the surface.
This logic belongs in the Gulf War. During that conflict, the MK-84 earned the nickname "the hammer" because it could shatter thick concrete slabs and oil installations across a wide, open landscape. In the desert, the battlefield had clear edges; a military target sat isolated from civilian life.
Dropping a "hammer" into the narrow alleys of Gaza or the apartment blocks of Lebanon is not a strategy; it creates a predictable death toll. A federal official told Tucker Carlson that these bombs leave craters three stories deep. When a ton of steel hits a city, it does not just neutralize a bunker; it erases the surrounding neighborhood.
Why does the rubble keep growing?
The pattern is repetitive. In 2014, during Operation Protective Edge, high-yield US munitions turned urban centers into graveyards of twisted rebar and grey dust. The same occurred during the 2021 Gaza conflict, and again during the 2023-2024 war, where heavy bombs became the primary language of the conflict.
By lifting the hold on these munitions, Donald Trump provides more than hardware; he provides political cover. Brian Finucane of the International Crisis Group said this is a "vote of confidence." It signals to Netanyahu that the White House will subsidize the tools used to inflict high civilian casualties.
The divide in Washington has widened. Senator Chris Van Hollen said the recipient is a "wanted war criminal," while Marjorie Taylor Greene said American tax dollars are killing "tens of thousands of innocent people." These conflicting views reveal a government that no longer agrees on whether it is funding a strategic ally or underwriting a catastrophe.
Firepower replaces diplomacy
This sale prepares the ground for a wider war. With I-2000 Penetrators now available and the memory of the February war against Iran still fresh, the Trump administration is betting that raw firepower can replace the need for diplomats. They treat the civilians in Gaza and Lebanon as acceptable collateral in a game of geopolitical leverage.
The history is consistent: when capitals decide that treaties are inconveniences, the stateless pay the price. The world is shifting toward a system where sovereignty only exists for those with the bombs to defend it. The "appropriate process" mentioned by the State Department is merely paperwork used to mask the act of abandoning human rights.
The Trump administration is not just selling weapons; it is selling the idea that the law does not apply to its friends. By funding the "hammer" with taxpayer dollars, Washington has decided that the ruins of a city are a fair price for the loyalty of a strongman.