{"id":4223,"date":"2026-07-16T14:38:53","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T14:38:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/?p=4223"},"modified":"2026-07-16T14:38:53","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T14:38:53","slug":"trump-has-blown-more-than-100-billion-on-iran-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/?p=4223","title":{"rendered":"Trump Has Blown More Than $100 Billion on Iran War"},"content":{"rendered":"

The U.S. president has indicated that he\u2019s\u00a0done negotiating with Tehran, that the ceasefire between Iran and the U.S. is over, and that the public can expect more strikes to be exchanged between the two nations\u2014a decision that is bound to rack up some monumental costs. A\u00a0new analysis\u00a0of U.S. expenses through the four-month war thus far, conducted\u00a0by Popular Information\u2019s Stephen Semler,\u00a0found that Trump officials have dramatically lowballed Congress on the real cost of the conflict (Semler also co-founded the U.S. foreign policy think tank Security Policy Reform Institute).<\/p>\n

\"Donald<\/p>\n

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Last week, Director of the Office of Management and Budget Russell Vought\u00a0told the House Appropriations Committee that the U.S. had spent $30 billion on the Iran war. According to Semler\u2019s estimates, the true cost is closer to $103 billion. Semler argued that Vought himself must have been aware of the figure\u2019s inaccuracy. Days before his House testimony, Vought\u00a0wrote and signed\u00a0a formal request \u201con behalf of the president\u201d for $88 billion in supplemental funding from Congress, including a $72 billion increase for the war effort.<\/p>\n

But even that $72 billion figure doesn\u2019t offer a complete image of the war\u2019s total price tag. Semler noted that Popular Information had previously calculated the war cost nearly that much\u2014about $71.8 billion\u2014during the first 60 days. The Trump administration is expected to ask for even more money to fund the conflict through upcoming reconciliation bills.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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In order to build an\u00a0independent analysis\u00a0of the Pentagon\u2019s expenditures, Semler analyzed procurement information, operating and support data, open-source intelligence, statements from U.S. officials, and media reports.<\/p>\n

Over the first 120 days of the conflict, Semler tallied $28.5 billion in mobilization, administrative, and immediate combat costs; $46.7 billion spent on missiles, interceptors, and bombs; $20.3 billion on damaged or destroyed military assets; $2.9 billion spent on Israel\u2019s bombs and interceptors; and an additional $4.8 billion on war costs to nonmilitary U.S. agencies.<\/p>\n

Yet no one in charge of the government\u2014from the White House to top congressional Republicans\u2014has posited exactly how the U.S. will pay for the war. Whereas taxes were raised in previous wars (such as World War I, World War II, and the Korean War) in order to fund conflict, the current administration has so far offered no such solution.<\/p>\n

Judge Orders Release of $5.8 Million Trump Owes E. Jean Carroll<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"E.<\/p>\n

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A federal judge on Wednesday\u00a0ordered\u00a0the release of the $5.8 million that President Trump owes E. Jean Carroll.<\/p>\n

After the Supreme Court\u00a0declined\u00a0last week to hear Trump\u2019s appeal of Carroll\u2019s successful defamation case against him, the president has made\u00a0excuses\u00a0and tried to\u00a0get out\u00a0of paying her. Trump has already provided the money through a fund set up during the appeals process. However, the interest has grown since then, raising the total sum past the initial $5 million verdict.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Shortly after Judge Lewis Kaplan issued his ruling, Trump\u00a0appealed\u00a0the decision.<\/p>\n

In 2023, a jury\u00a0found\u00a0that Trump sexually abused Carroll in 1996 in a Manhattan department store, and defamed her after she went public with her story. The jury ordered $5 million in damages, and Trump put the sum, plus interest, in a court-controlled account shortly after losing the case.<\/p>\n

Still, Trump insisted that he didn\u2019t know Carroll and accused her of political and financial motives, and continued to defame her by claiming she fabricated her story. That repeated defamation resulted in another lawsuit that Trump lost, with a jury awarding Carroll $88.3 million.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Carroll is still awaiting payment from a man notorious for many years for not\u00a0paying his bills. He\u2019s pulling out all of the stops to avoid paying funds that he already deposited, and that are a tiny fraction of his net worth thanks to his successful efforts to use the presidency to\u00a0enrich himself. Trump can\u2019t admit when he\u2019s lost, whether in court or at the ballot box, and he likes to hoard his ill-gotten gains.<\/p>\n

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Olivia Rodrigo Gets Revenge for Trump\u2019s \u201cBarbaric\u201d Use of Her Song<\/h2>\n

The Trump administration had used the pop star\u2019s song \u201call-american bitch\u201d in one of its deportation videos.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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\"Olivia<\/picture><\/div>\n
Xavi Torrent\/Getty Images<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Pop star Olivia Rodrigo<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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It was a bad idea, right?<\/p>\n

Olivia Rodrigo is mobilizing her fans to vote against the Trump administration after Homeland Security officials used one of her songs as the soundtrack for their deportation propaganda.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The singer of \u201cthe cure\u201d launched a contest Wednesday that will offer fans a chance to win VIP tickets to her Daisy Chain Fields festival. The only entry requirement: prepping for the 2026 midterm elections.<\/p>\n

Headcount Organization, the entity running the sweepstakes, partners with musicians and music events to help Americans understand their civil rights and register to vote. The winner will have all festival expenses paid for, including travel and hotel accommodations, according to Headcount\u2019s\u00a0website.<\/p>\n

The nonprofit offers participants three buttons to enter the competition, labeled \u201cCheck your registration status,\u201d \u201cI\u2019m not registered to vote,\u201d or \u201cElection info.\u201d The page notes in fine print that actually following through on the vote is not necessary to win.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cYou may enter the sweepstakes by clicking any button above without taking a civic action,\u201d the page reads. \u201cVoting, registering to vote, or being a registered voter is not required.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rodrigo\u2019s massive, all-women, late-August lineup will include Chappell Roan, Doechii, Santigold, Sarah McLachlan, Mitski, The Breeders, Bikini Kill, and Stevie Nicks. The event will also feature nonprofits sharing educational resources on a range of issues including reproductive rights, maternal health, economic empowerment, domestic violence prevention, and gender equity.<\/p>\n

Partnering organizations include the Black Mamas Matter Alliance, the Center for Reproductive Rights, Planned Parenthood, and the Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health, among others.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The sweepstakes come several months after DHS used Rodrigo\u2019s song \u201call-american bitch\u201d without her permission in a\u00a0video\u00a0calling for immigrants to \u201cLEAVE NOW and self-deport.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI was just scrolling on my phone,\u201d the three-time Grammy winner told\u00a0Dazed<\/i>\u00a0last month, recalling the incident. \u201cIt was so deeply disturbing to see that propaganda, and the fact it was my song in there made me feel even more enraged. What they\u2019re doing is so awful and barbaric and cruel. I am really sad to be in a country that thinks that\u2019s OK.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The U.S. president has indicated that he\u2019s\u00a0done negotiating with Tehran, that the ceasefire between Iran and the U.S. is over, and that the public can expect more strikes to be … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3333,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,21,22,1,5,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aita","category-daily-article","category-reddit-stories","category-story","category-story-daily","category-viral-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4223"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4223\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4224,"href":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4223\/revisions\/4224"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}