Iran

$200 Billion War? 

Plus: boots on the ground, The Bachelorette cancels season, Meta reverses itself on virtual reality, and more...

Peter Suderman | 3.20.2026 9:30 AM

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(screenshot from press conference via PBS News Hour / YouTube)

A long, expensive war? When President Donald Trump first announced the war—or, if you like, the distinctly-warlike-but-not-technically-a-war "excursion"—in Iran, he said it could be over in days or weeks. But days have passed. We are now three weeks into the conflict. And there is no sign of when it will end. 

But the costs are adding up. The first six days of the war cost $11.3 billion, according to the Pentagon, which is an undercount given that the tally doesn't include the cost of troop and equipment movements. 

And now the Pentagon wants a $200 billion budget supplemental to further fund the war. The request has been submitted to the White House, but not Congress, and some moderate Republicans already appear to be concerned about the price tag.

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At a press conference yesterday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who presumably just wants taxpayers to continue funding lobster dinners, suggested that the figure might change. He didn't specify whether that meant it might increase or decrease.

Trump........

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