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The day before he signed a memorandum of understanding with Iranian leaders, President Donald Trump said he wants to put the joint U.S.-Israeli war on Iran in the “rearview mirror.” But even if the memorandum — which puts an end to the war for at least the next 60 days — holds, the enormous costs of the war itself will not disappear with the next news cycle.

In Iran, at least 3,468 people were killed over several weeks of U.S.-Israeli strikes. Recovery for Iran is expected to be costly after the strikes hit critical infrastructure like bridges, manufacturing, and oil depots, as well as civilian infrastructure like hospitals and schools. As part of the agreement signed this week, the U.S. has said it would work with regional partners create a $300 billion reconstruction fund.

Meanwhile, in the U.S., as Trump seeks nearly $1.5 trillion in military spending and puts pressure on military contractors to rapidly replenish depleted weapons stockpiles, critics say Congress must reject funding for more wars and reverse harmful cuts to the social safety net.

While the memorandum puts the U.S. and Iran on a path toward more substantive diplomatic negotiations, Trump suggested that bombing could resume if the Iranians “don’t behave.” Meanwhile, the White House is quietly scrambling to replenish stockpiles of high-tech missiles and interceptors after expending massive resources bombing Iran and defending Israel from retaliatory strikes in a bloody war that even some Republicans openly call a foreign policy blunder.

To speed up weapons manufacturing, Trump has reportedly repeatedly summoned military contractors to the White House. On June 11, Trump invoked the Defense Production Act of 1950, a law that gives the president broad authority to compel private companies to produce goods for the government in emergency situations. In the order, Trump declared that “conditions exist which may pose a direct threat to the national defense or its preparedness programs,” including fragile supply chains and limited manufacturing capacity for replacing “munitions, missiles, and equipment.”

Trump Dismisses Question on Holding Officials Accountable for Iran School Strike

However, as many analysts have pointed out, Iran poses no direct threat to the U.S. homeland. The invocation of the Defense Production Act was the latest sign that the Iran’s military capabilities surprised........

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