Elon Musk and his team at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have swung into action to cut federal spending. Touted as the closest aide to President Donald Trump, Musk has been given license to cut jobs, trim federal agencies, and reduce costs however he sees fit.
This has given way to worries in the defense sector as Trump is actively looking to trim U.S. involvement in various global conflicts. Consequently, shares of the most popular defense ETF, the SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF (XAR), with $2.8 billion assets under management, has underperformed the S&P 500 Index ($SPX) this year. Does this make defense stocks a no-go area for investors?
