Trump’s War on Iran Could Cost Trillions

The Trump administration has disclosed that the U.S. war on Iran cost $11.3 billion in its first week, but government officials and budget experts say the true cost is between $1 billion and $2 billion per day—potentially reaching $250 billion over eight weeks and trillions of dollars long-term when accounting for veterans' benefits and debt interest. Pentagon comptroller Jules Hurst called the $11.3 billion figure a "ballpark number" and said a more comprehensive estimate would be included in a supplemental budget request to Congress, which lawmakers expect to exceed $50 billion. The Pentagon's initial estimate excluded massive military buildup costs, munitions burned through ($5.6 billion in the first two days alone), and damaged equipment, leading experts like Harvard's Linda Bilmes—who documented the true $8 trillion cost of the Iraq War—to warn that incomplete accounting repeats past mistakes. The War Department has never passed a federal audit despite nearly a decade of attempts, and the administration has declined to specify the war's planned duration or total objectives, fueling Democratic criticism that Americans lack transparent information about an open-ended conflict.