President Donald Trump has sought to justify the eye-watering cost of the war he started with Iran by declaring that $200 billion is “a small price to pay to stay tippy top.”
As the Middle East conflict enters its third week - with oil and gas prices soaring and the death toll rising - the administration confirmed on Thursday that the price tag was also set to skyrocket, despite Trump insisting America’s involvement could be over soon.
Asked why the Pentagon was asking Congress for another $200 billion, Trump told reporters: “We’re in very good shape, but we want to be in the best shape. The best shape we’ve ever been in.”
“We make, by far, the best equipment,” the 79-year-old Commander-in-Chief continued.
“The other night, we had 114 rockets shot at a certain location. Out of 114 sophisticated rockets, every single one of them was shot down with our equipment. It’s amazing, actually. So we want to be sure—and it’s a small price to pay to make sure that we stay tippy top.”
The comments are emblematic of one of the achievements Trump often claims for his first term: rebuilding the military.
But the war with Iran is particularly challenging for an “America First” president who came to office promising not to get embroiled in foreign entanglements.
While Congress will have the final say on the Pentagon’s multi-billion-dollar funding request, some lawmakers are already signaling opposition over domestic concerns.
“I am a no,” said MAGA Republican Lauren Boebert. “I am so tired of spending money over there. I have folks in Colorado who can’t afford to live. We need America first policies right now.”
The $200 billion is more than the annual discretionary spending budget for the Department of Health and Human Services (which is about $150 billion a year) and U.S. support for Ukraine (for which Washington has committed roughly $170–$180 billion in military, economic, and humanitarian aid, since the start of hostilities.)
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth, however, justified the funding, telling reporters on Thursday morning: “It takes money to kill bad guys.”
Trump’s war began on Feb. 28 when the U.S. and Israel launched surprise strikes on Iran, in a mission that has since killed at least 13 US servicemen.
The initial strikes also assassinated Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, but his son, Mojtaba Khamenei, has since replaced him and vowed revenge.
In response, Iran has attacked energy infrastructure, targeted airports and residential centers, and disrupted shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, which accounts for roughly a fifth of the world’s oil.
As a result, the national average price of gasoline has soared in the U.S., reaching $3.90 per gallon on Thursday, according to GasBuddy, while diesel has climbed to $5.09 per gallon.
Trump’s comments about needing to stay “tippy top” came during a bilateral meeting with Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who had come to Washington seeking to reaffirm the US-Japanese alliance as the global energy crisis deepens.
But things took an awkward turn when Trump made a cringeworthy joke about the bombing of Pearl Harbor after being asked why the U.S. had not informed Japan or any other allies it was going to strike Iran.
“You don’t want to signal too much, you know?” Trump said.
“When we go in, we went in very hard, and we didn’t tell anybody about it because we wanted surprise. Who knows better about surprise than Japan?
“Okay, why didn’t you tell me about Pearl Harbor? You believe in surprise, I think much more so than us.”
