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The cost of Trump's Iran war is quickly spiraling upward
If you have to ask, you can't afford it — so Republicans won't ask.
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Speaking to Sky News last week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was asked if there was some point at which the Iran war could grow so costly that he would tell President Trump it had become unaffordable.
“Absolutely not,” Bessent replied.
Whatever it costs, the American taxpayer will pony up. That makes this war a lot like all our other ones. And however much it looks today like the war will cost, it will almost certainly cost more. That’s how war works: It’s always more complicated, difficult, and expensive than the people who start it think it’s going to be. But with only one or two exceptions, Republicans are unperturbed by the effect of Trump’s “excursion” on our national balance sheet.
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Once again we are reminded of a fundamental truth in Washington: Neither party thinks cost is ever a reason not to do something they want to do. The difference between them is that once Democrats decide what they want to do, they usually try to figure out how to pay for it. Yet remarkably, Republicans retain their reputation as the party of fiscal discipline, a vivid demonstration of the power of rhetoric over facts.
We’ll discuss that more in a bit, but first, let’s take a look at what the Iran War is actually costing.
The Pentagon’s cash register is ringing
We’re less than three weeks into this war, and already the numbers are shockingly large, even if they’re difficult to pin down with precision.
In a briefing early on, the Pentagon told lawmakers that the first six days of the war cost $11.3 billion. Democratic Sen. Chris Coons, not one given to hyperbole, said after the briefing, “I expect that the current total operating number is significantly above that.” The Center for Strategic and International Studies estimated that after 12 days, the cost had risen to $16.5 billion.
While some days cost more than others, the total price tag will keep rising. Expenses include everything from the ordnance we’re going through, which will will have to be restocked (for instance, each Tomahawk missile costs $2.5 million or more, and we’ve launched hundreds of them at Iran), to the extra fuel the Pentagon is using, to rebuilding the systems and bases Iran is hitting, to the medical costs for injured service members, and more.