A public accountability project
A live estimate of what Trump's wars have cost American taxpayers — plus the higher gas prices caused by the Iran war — and what that money could have funded instead.
This counter doesn't run itself.
Free, independent, and nonpartisan — no ads, no political funding.
Not tax-deductible · Longleaf Media LLC
"It's not possible for us to take care of day care, Medicaid, Medicare, all these individual things. We have to take care of one thing: military protection."
— President Donald Trump, April 2, 2026
"TrumpWarCosts.com provides a vital public service. The President himself said that America must choose between healthcare and wars. The American people choose healthcare and peace."
— Jeffrey Sachs, Columbia University
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Human cost
Cost breakdown
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Casualties. Costs. Context. Every Wednesday — in under 2 minutes.
Not tax-deductible · Longleaf Media LLC
Economic impact
Not tracked in our data, but worth knowing. The war's financial ripple effects are showing up across the US economy.
Brown University researchers tracked the full economic footprint: higher pump prices, $4.55/gal nationally, $6.13 in California. Lower-income households spend 4.2% of income on gas vs. 2.7% for wealthier ones. Americans are buying less groceries and skipping medical care. 45 million extra bus rides in March alone. Diesel costs are feeding through to food prices — tomatoes up 40% year-over-year.
NYT Interactive ↗Even a peace deal won't quickly reverse pump prices. GasBuddy's head of petroleum analysis sees prices recovering in thirds — the last third taking until early or mid-2027. Energy Secretary Wright acknowledged prices may not fall to pre-war levels until next year. S&P Global says prices are "unlikely to return to pre-war levels before the end of the year."
Axios ↗The Philadelphia Fed's Survey of Professional Forecasters — the blue-ribbon panel polled each quarter — put Q2 headline CPI at 6%, up from a pre-war estimate of 2.7%. PCE inflation landed at 4.5%. Forecasters simultaneously cut growth expectations, projecting GDP at 2.1% annualized in Q2 and slowing to 1.9% in 2027. Incoming Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, who has signaled a preference for lower rates, now faces a stagflation environment that makes cuts politically and economically difficult.
CNBC ↗ · Philadelphia Fed ↗The running total
Methodology & sources
This tracker uses only hard, sourced costs — direct federal military spending and verified gas price data. It does not include broader economic impact estimates, which are significantly higher but harder to pin down precisely.
Acting Pentagon Comptroller Jules Hurst testified before the House Appropriations Committee that the war has cost approximately $29 billion, covering munitions, operations & maintenance, and equipment replacement for Operation Epic Fury. Updated from $25B (Apr 29 HASC testimony). Reuters ↗
What this figure does not include: Operation Southern Spear (Venezuela/Caribbean, ongoing since Nov 2025), Operation Midnight Hammer (Iran nuclear sites, Jun 2025), increased gas costs borne by American drivers, KIA/WIA casualty expenses, and the ongoing ceasefire/blockade phase costs — for which a supplemental spending request has not yet been filed with Congress.
Our tracker adds these documented, sourced costs on top of the Pentagon's floor. The gap between $25B and our figure is not a dispute with the government — it is the sum of what they haven't counted yet.