‘A blank check’: Trump faces new pressure over true cost of Iran war
WASHINGTON, DC: Three Democratic lawmakers are demanding an updated accounting of President Trump's Iran war as questions grow over the conflict's full financial burden.
The lawmakers say the war has cost more than $37 billion, while an internal Pentagon estimate puts the figure at $80 billion to $100 billion.
The demand came Monday, August 24, after the Daily Beast reported on the lawmakers' letter seeking a new accounting by September 11.
Democrats demand a fuller war accounting
Reps Derek Tran, Jason Crow and Maggie Goodlander, all military veterans, said the conflict has moved far beyond the two-week operation they say Americans were initially promised.
“What was billed as a two-week operation is now a full-scale war that has lasted for over 150 days, cost over $37 billion, and claimed the lives of 18 servicemembers,” they wrote.
The lawmakers also pointed to higher prices, saying “the burden of this conflict” is falling on American families.
They demanded that the Defense Department provide an up-to-date and accurate accounting by September 11.
“Americans did not ask for this war, and they cannot afford it,” the lawmakers wrote. “They do not have the luxury of ignoring their financial situation, and you shouldn’t either.”
Acting Pentagon comptroller Jay Hurst said in April that the war had cost $25 billion, while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth raised that figure to $37.5 billion in July.
Internal estimate puts costs much higher
The public figures are also far below an estimate NBC News previously reported from inside the Defense Department, which put the war's cost between $80 billion and $100 billion.
An August Reuters/Ipsos poll found that 80% of respondents believed the war “will go on for an extended period of time.”
Crow said the duration of the conflict was itself part of the problem.
“Nearly six months ago, Donald Trump launched us into yet another war with no strategy and no endgame,” Crow said in a statement, according to NBC News.
Democrats point to rising household costs
Crow also connected the war to rising prices, saying, “As Trump, his family, and his friends in the oil industry use this conflict to pad their pockets, the cost on American taxpayers has grown by the day.”
The Daily Beast report said gas prices have risen because of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, while disruptions to the fertilizer trade are expected to affect grocery prices.
Goodlander similarly argued that taxpayers deserved more detail about the war's cost and impact.
“Americans are being asked to write a blank check for a war they never asked for—a war that has jacked up costs on everyday goods and made us less safe,” she said in a statement reported by NBC.
“President Trump and Secretary Hegseth owe the American people a full accounting: where every taxpayer dollar has gone, how this war is affecting hardworking families, and when it will end.”
The White House defended Trump's decision.
Spokeswoman Anna Kelly said politicians had discussed the danger of a nuclear Iran for decades and said, “Only President Trump, however, has possessed the courage to take this national security threat head-on.”
She repeated Trump's position that Iran “can never be allowed to possess a nuclear weapon,” saying his team would continue communicating with Congress toward that goal.
