Revealed: The Staggering Cost of a Single Week of Conflict in Iran for American Taxpayers

The United States incurred expenses totaling $11.3 billion in the initial week of its conflict with Iran, as per figures shared by the Pentagon with Congress during a briefing earlier this week.

A substantial portion of this expenditure, approximately $5 billion, was allocated to munitions during just the first weekend of hostilities, according to reports from the US military.

Details of the financial estimate were disclosed to Congress in a private session earlier this week, as confirmed by an individual privy to the meeting who requested anonymity to speak about the confidential discussions.

Previously, the Trump administration signaled its intention to approach Congress for additional war funding. However, this plan seems to have been put on hold for the time being.

Senator Roger Wicker, who leads the Senate Armed Services Committee, mentioned on Wednesday that he does not anticipate the administration making a supplemental funding request this month.

Both sides have dug in, hoping to outlast the other as the conflict upends trade routes, chokes supplies of fuel and fertilizer coming out of the Gulf and threatens air traffic through one of the world’s most-traveled regions. 

US Central Command continued to hammer home the successes of the war, posting a video via X showing the destruction of an Iranian aircraft to social media.

‘The Iranian regime is losing air capability day by day. US forces aren’t just defending against Iranian threats, we are methodically dismantling them,’ the post read.

The first week of war with Iran cost the United States $11.3 billion, according to the Pentagon, which provided the estimate to Congress in a briefing earlier this week

The military reported spending $5 billion on munitions alone in the war’s first weekend

Iran has targeted oil fields and refineries in Gulf Arab nations and effectively stopped cargo traffic through the narrow Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of all traded oil passes.

In response, the International Energy Agency agreed to release 400 million barrels of oil, the largest volume of emergency oil reserves in its history, in a bid to counter the war’s effects on energy markets. 

The US planned to release 172 million barrels of oil next week from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve to combat steep prices.

Donald Trump said earlier Wednesday that the war will end ‘soon’ as the global economy reels from soaring oil prices triggered by the conflict.

‘Little this and that… Any time I want it to end, it will end,’ Trump said in a brief phone call with Axios. 

‘The war is going great. We are way ahead of the timetable. We have done more damage than we thought possible, even in the original six-week period.’

As the president claims his war goals in the Middle East are largely accomplished, Israeli and US officials say they are preparing to continue striking Iran for at least two more weeks.

Seven US service members have been killed after Donald Trump launched strikes against Iran on February 28.

Donald Trump said earlier Wednesday that the war will end ‘soon’ as the global economy reels from soaring oil prices triggered by the conflict

The human toll comes amid mounting concerns over the financial cost, the Pentagon having burned through $5.6 billion worth of munitions in the first two days of the war.

Gas prices have rocketed to an average of $3.6 per gallon from $2.9 before the war began, as oil prices hit levels not seen since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Trump said earlier this week that he was hoping for a swift end to the war following a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump told reporters US forces are ‘very far ahead of schedule’, claiming Iran’s military has effectively been destroyed.

Trump also noted that the Iranian regime must pay for past aggression towards the US and Gulf nation allies. 

‘They were after the rest of the Middle East. They are paying for 47 years of death and destruction they caused. This is payback. They will not get off that easy,’ Trump said.

The President also claimed that the military had destroyed 16 Iranian mine-laying boats intended to disrupt oil shipments moving through the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump’s sudden push to wrap up the conflict comes as most Americans hold an unfavorable view of his handling of the war ahead of the 2026 midterm election. 

A new Daily Mail/J.L. Partners poll puts Trump’s approval at 44 percent, down four points since last week and the lowest recorded in Daily Mail tracking to date.

The closure of the Hormuz, a narrow waterway connecting the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman, has driven up oil prices. A fifth of global oil flows through the narrow strait.

Iran has closed the transit route by launching drone and missile attacks as retaliatory strikes against the US and Gulf allies since the start of the war.

More Americans are also beginning to feel the cost of the war in their everyday lives.

Higher gas prices can increase the cost of transporting goods and lead to higher prices for everything from groceries to consumer products.

As a result of the global oil crisis, the International Energy Agency said Wednesday that member countries had released 400 million oil barrels from their reserves in order to ease soaring prices.

Meanwhile, three commercial ships for Saudi Arabia were attacked as they moved through the waterway this week. 

An attack on the Thailand-flagged bulk carrier Mayuree Naree from an ‘unknown projectile’ happened 11 nautical miles north of Oman and resulted in a fire onboard the ship.

Iran today confirmed it had attacked the Mayuree Naree, adding: ‘The American aggressors and their partners have no right to pass.’

Authorities are searching for three missing crew members from the ship after 20 were rescued by the Omani navy.

Trump has previously warned the Islamic regime not to disrupt the flow of oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, adding: ‘The Military consequences to Iran will be at a level never seen before’.