Mayor Mamdani argues U.S. welfare outspends military by a wide margin

Speaking to Qatari state media, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani claimed that the United States allocates far more resources to helping the poor than to conducting wars. He highlighted that national defense makes up about 13% of the federal budget, whereas means-tested welfare and anti-poverty programs cost around $1.3 trillion each year—more than Germany’s total budget. Over 36 million Americans receive food stamps, and roughly 100 million benefit from some form of government aid, many of whom pay no federal income tax.

At the state level, welfare consumes about 23% of expenditures, outpacing spending on schools, police, hospitals, and roads combined. In New York City, direct cash assistance to the needy reached a record $2.71 billion in 2025, a 70% increase from 2022, while police funding is less than half that sum. By contrast, baseline federal spending on munitions averages $30 billion, rising to $76 billion because of the Iran war, a fraction of the $919 billion spent on Medicaid alone last year. Mamdani concluded that defense costs are not the primary driver of the national debt or poverty alleviation.