The U.S. Donald Trump administration has poured about $29 billion (about 43 trillion won) into the Iran military operation that began at the end of Feb. for 10 weeks. As the armed clash to block Iran's nuclear armament at the source drags on, massive federal finances are being injected, directly affecting U.S. economic indicators such as steep inflation.
On the 12th (local time), Jay Hurst, Inspector General at the U.S. Department of Defense, appeared at the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense hearing and said the accumulated war expense since the opening of hostilities on Feb. 28 amounts to $29 billion. That is up $4 billion from the $25 billion estimate reported to the House Armed Services Committee two weeks earlier. Inspector General Hurst explained that it was the result of increased general operating costs for repairing weapons and equipment and maintaining forward-deployed troops. The damage to U.S. bases in the Middle East caused by Iranian attacks was excluded from this estimate. The actual bill is expected to grow once the share for base reconstruction and allied burden-sharing is set.
War clouds continue to hang over Middle Eastern waters. An armistice negotiation that was to be held with Iran the previous day fell through, raising alarms over securing the safety of sea lanes. Defense Minister Pete Hegseth left all options open regarding resuming the "Liberation Project," an operation to assist civilian vessel passage through the Strait of Hormuz. Minister Hegseth said, "I will not disclose specific operational options," but pressed that "it is currently paused, yet we can restart it at any time if the commander in chief wants." Senator Lindsey Graham, at the same hearing, criticized Democrats for allowing Iran to reach the threshold of nuclear weapons and threw support behind the current administration.
President Trump made clear he would not be swayed by massive war expense outlays and the economic fallout. Departing for a visit to China on the 12th, Trump told reporters that the "economic burden Americans are experiencing" was not a motivation to rush armistice talks, saying, "Not at all." He said, "I do not think about Americans' financial situation," adding, "I do not think about anyone. I think only about one thing: we cannot allow Iran to have nuclear weapons. That is all." He dismissed the recently released April consumer price index, up 3.8% year over year, as "a temporary phenomenon." Trump added, "My policies are working remarkably well," and "the American people understand if the stock market moves up and down a bit."