Lawmakers Query Iran War Cost as Trump Renews Strike Threats
Photographer: Aaron Schwartz/Sipa/Bloomberg
US lawmakers pressed Pentagon chiefs for details on the mounting costs of America’s deadlocked war with Iran, amid signs the conflict is pushing up consumer prices at home too. President Donald Trump said the Islamic Republic will be “decimated” if a deal can’t be reached.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declined to give a breakdown of costs as he faced questions in Congress during a hearing on the administration’s unprecedented $1.5 trillion defense spending request for next year. Jules Hurst, the Pentagon’s acting comptroller, said the war’s estimated price tag has risen closer to $29 billion, from a $25 billion estimate that had been questioned as unrealistically low.