Most people have never heard of FDD.

That’s the point.

The Foundation for Defense of Democracies shows up in the news as a foreign-policy think tank. Its experts get quoted on Iran, Israel, sanctions, terrorism, nuclear policy, and war.

But look underneath the “expert” label.

The Marcus Foundation is tied to Bernie Marcus, the billionaire co-founder of Home Depot. It reportedly gave FDD ~$19M in 2025 — well over half of FDD’s prior-year budget.

That matters because FDD is not just “studying” Iran.

Its own Iran Program is built around sanctions, nuclear policy, missiles, terrorism, and Iran’s internal power structure.

It also maintains a regime change policy track.

Now add the Trump layer.

Bernie Marcus and Ken Langone were Home Depot co-founders and major GOP / Trump-aligned donors.
The Marcus Foundation helped bankroll FDD.
FDD helped build the intellectual case for “maximum pressure” on Iran.
Trump turned maximum pressure into policy.
Then media outlets quoted FDD voices as national-security experts.

So the public sees “expert analysis.”

But behind it is a pipeline:

Home Depot billionaire money → Think tank → Media narrative → Policy

Maybe that’s harmless.

Maybe it’s just philanthropy, expertise, and politics naturally overlapping.

Or maybe this is how war consensus gets laundered:

The donor funds the institution.
The institution produces the experts.
The experts shape the story.
The story becomes policy.

Draw your own conclusion.