Iran war: $47 billion tally and Trump's timeline
A U.S. Central Command estimate puts the cost of the conflict at $47 billion, while the president's approval rating sits at 32% ahead of the Nov. 3 midterms.
By James Brooks ·
The war with Iran has cost the United States $47 billion, according to an Oct. 16 estimate from U.S. Central Command reported by The Hill. The figure is about $3 billion higher than previous tallies, and it does not include repairs to damaged military bases in the Middle East. A lead inspector general report to Congress put that damage at $184 million as of June 29, covering Iranian strikes on U.S. diplomatic facilities in Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Speaking at a rally in Lubbock, Texas, President Donald Trump framed the timeline as his own to set. "Somebody asked me before, 'When will the war in Iran end?' I said, 'Whenever I want it to end,'" he said. He added that an ending would come "very quick, but we have to have an end properly," with a statement that Iran would never hold a nuclear weapon. He has said he will soon decide whether to make a deal with Iran or finish it off.
The spending lands as Trump's approval rating stands at 32%, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll on Monday, with the midterm elections set for Nov. 3. Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, said on Oct. 12 that the conflict has cost American families an average of $2,000 so far: $1,100 from higher energy costs, $540 from higher interest rate costs and $360 from increased military spending.
Munitions replacements account for $29 million of the total, a sum reported alongside shortfalls in U.S. munitions tied to the conflict. Trump said on Sept. 3 that the country had "virtually unlimited" ammunition. Earlier this month, the U.S. evacuated diplomats from Saudi Arabia, and the New York Times reported that U.S. and Israeli military planners had drawn up specific options for a "short but intensive" round of strikes on Iran after the midterms.
