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  "path": "/post/207579/daily-cost-donald-trump-iran-war",
  "publishedAt": "2026-03-10T16:05:41.000Z",
  "site": "https://newrepublic.com",
  "tags": [
    "Breaking News",
    "Politics",
    "Republican Party",
    "Donald Trump",
    "Foreign Policy",
    "Middle East",
    "Iran",
    "War",
    "Military",
    "American military",
    "defense spending",
    "Budget",
    "_The Washington Post_",
    "$1 billion",
    "closer to $2 billion",
    "announced",
    "claimed",
    "may have used",
    "Center for American Progress",
    "largest force of U.S. military assets",
    "downed",
    "far less expensive"
  ],
  "textContent": "The Pentagon spent an estimated $5.6 billion on munitions alone during the first two days of Donald Trump’s illegal war in Iran, three U.S. officials told _The Washington Post_. And every dollar of that was spent without congressional approval.\n\nThis figure, which was delivered to Congress Monday, significantly dwarfs the Pentagon’s preliminary cost estimate of $1 billion per day. Some GOP lawmakers told Politico they’d received estimates that were closer to $2 billion.\n\nThe _Post_ report comes as Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that Tuesday “will be the most intense day of strikes,” just hours after Trump claimed the war “was very complete.”\n\nThe officials who spoke to the _Post_ did not disclose what kinds of munitions were fired in the U.S. military’s opening salvo, but U.S. Central Command confirmed that the U.S. has fired more than 2,000 munitions and struck more than 5,000 targets.\n\nMultiple outlets have reported the use of precision weapons including Tomahawk cruise missiles, which cost $2.2 million each. Reports indicate that the U.S. may have used one of these missiles in a deadly strike at a girls’ primary school that killed 175 people, many of whom were children.\n\nBut munitions aren’t the only costs, according to the Center for American Progress. Elaine McCusker, who served as deputy undersecretary of defense during the first Trump administration, estimated that it cost $630 million to assemble the largest force of U.S. military assets to the Middle East in decades before the first shot was even fired. Only days into the fighting, a friendly fire incident downed F-15 fighter jets, costing roughly $351 million.\n\nHegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine told reporters last week they would transition away from precision munitions, in favor of laser-guided bombs, which are far less expensive. Still, as the fighting drags on, the cost to U.S. taxpayers continues to balloon.\n\nThe Trump administration is expected to submit a supplemental defense budget in the coming days—asking for billions more to keep dropping bombs.",
  "title": "Daily Cost of Trump’s Iran War Will Blow Your Mind"
}