For the first two months of the war in Iran, the White House faced plenty of questions about just how much the conflict is costing American taxpayers. Trump administration officials insisted they didn’t wanted to talk about the price tag and refused to offer even vague answers.
Two weeks ago, however, the Pentagon shifted gears. Jules Hurst III, the Defense Department’s chief financial officer, told lawmakers that the military offensive had, as of April 30, cost the United States “about $25 billion.” This week, that same official offered a revised total. MS NOW reported:
The Pentagon’s top budget official told Congress the cost of Trump’s war with Iran is now “closer to $29 billion.”
Hurst cited repair costs for military equipment and the cost of replacing equipment as reason for the $4 billion spike in spending over 14 days. He added that “general operational costs” have also increased, but declined to elaborate on which specific costs drove the price increase.
To be sure, it’s tempting to feel a degree of satisfaction getting any kind of budget figure from the administration, especially after two months of silence and stonewalling.
But the lingering problem is that there’s uncertainty about whether the revised total is anywhere close to the truth. Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, told Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, “It seems clear that cost estimate is suspiciously low. Your acting comptroller suggested that damage to U.S. facilities was not factored into that figure.”
Murray’s colleagues made related comments last week. Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said the administration was “lowballing it,” while Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois dismissed the latest tallies as an “undercounting.” Maine Sen. Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, said the Pentagon’s number was in all likelihood “way too low.”
Democratic Rep. Pat Ryan of New York, an Iraq War vet who serves on the House Armed Services Committee, told MS NOW it’s “pathetic” but “not surprising” that the Trump administration is “not being straightforward” about the war’s costs.
The search for the actual price tag, in other words, is ongoing.
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