$1,000,000,000
Per Day
That's $11,574 every second — spent on a war the self-proclaimed "candidate of peace" started without congressional authorization, without an exit plan, and without even evacuating American embassies.
Since you opened this page
$0
has been spent on the Iran war
$11,574 per second
Operation Epic Fury — By the Numbers
The costs are piling up — and they're just getting started
2M
Americans' SNAP food benefits — for an entire year
At $5 billion in just the first four days, the cost of Operation Epic Fury could already cover SNAP benefits for 2 million Americans for a full year. Every day the war continues, that number grows.
$6.5M
Cost to operate just one carrier strike group — per day
The Pentagon has two deployed: the USS Gerald R. Ford and USS Abraham Lincoln. That's $13 million a day just to keep them floating — before a single bomb drops or missile fires.
$779M
What the first 24 hours alone cost taxpayers
CENTCOM says it struck over 1,250 targets on the first day using more than 20 weapons systems. The estimated bill for that single day of operations: $779 million.
$44M
To intercept a single Iranian missile
Pentagon interceptors like the SM-6 cost around $4 million each — and it takes up to 11 of them to stop one Iranian missile. That's $44 million per intercept. We've intercepted hundreds.
$210B
Total economic cost if the conflict continues — Penn Wharton's estimate
$65 billion in direct military costs. Another $115 billion from trade disruptions, energy shocks, and financial instability. And the White House says it could last 4–5 weeks.
$1.1B
The U.S. radar system Iran allegedly destroyed in Qatar
Not included in most cost estimates. A $1.1 billion radar installation — gone. Pentagon experts say the $5 billion estimate doesn't even count losses like this.
$7B
Every single week
The Alternative
What $1 billion a day could buy for Americans instead
Every Kid
Breakfast and lunch for every K-12 student in America — every day
$1 billion covers breakfast and lunch for all 49.6 million public school students, with hundreds of millions left over.
3×
More than triple daily funding for food assistance
SNAP costs $274 million per day. One day of war spending could fund food assistance at triple the current rate.
100%
Fully cover ACA tax credits and restore Medicaid cuts — every day
Permanently extending ACA credits costs $95.9M/day. Restoring the GOP's Medicaid cuts costs $249.6M/day. Combined, that's $345M — a third of one day's war spending.
200K
Lead pipes replaced in U.S. drinking water — every day
At current replacement costs, $1 billion per day would replace at least 200,000 lead pipes. Instead, American kids keep drinking poison.
March 2, 2026
The equivalent of 60 million school lunches went down in flames over Kuwait
On March 2, Kuwaiti air defenses mistakenly shot down three U.S. F-15 fighter jets — a country where the U.S. Air Force is permanently stationed and regularly conducts joint training. An Air Force veteran called it "operational incompetence." All crew were safe, but $270 million in fighter jets fell from the sky in a single day.
60M
School lunches for American kids
710K
Families receiving heating assistance
20K
Kids enrolled in Head Start
The Math Doesn't Add Up
1
Iranian missile
launched at U.S. base
launched at U.S. base
VS
$44M
U.S. taxpayer dollars
to intercept it
to intercept it
Each SM-6 interceptor costs ~$4 million. It takes up to 11 of them to stop a single Iranian missile. We've already intercepted hundreds. Do the math.
The Human Cost
The "candidate of peace" is getting soldiers killed and stranding Americans abroad
Trump launched strikes without evacuating diplomats, without adequate force protection, and without a plan to bring Americans home. The result: 6 soldiers dead, 3 fighter jets lost, embassies shuttered, and up to 1 million Americans stranded in the Middle East.
1M
Americans stranded in the Middle East
20K+
Flights cancelled worldwide
6
U.S. embassies closed or under attack
Soldiers died in a trailer with no overhead protection
Six American soldiers were killed when an Iranian strike hit a tactical operations center in Kuwait — a trailer fortified only by T-walls, with no overhead protection. Three military officials questioned whether the facility was adequately fortified.
Embassies attacked — after Trump failed to evacuate them
The administration did not prepare to evacuate diplomatic missions before striking. The U.S. Embassy in Kuwait was hit. The embassy in Riyadh was struck by two drones. The consulate in Dubai was targeted. Amman and Doha are under shelter-in-place orders.
Up to 1 million Americans stranded with no plan to bring them home
With embassies shuttered and commercial airspace closed, the State Department is scrambling to secure military planes and charter flights. The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem admitted they are "not in a position to evacuate or directly assist Americans in departing Israel."
"Operational incompetence" led to the loss of three F-15 fighter jets
Kuwait — a country where the U.S. Air Force is permanently stationed and regularly trains alongside — mistakenly shot down three American jets. An Air Force veteran called it "operational incompetence."
There will likely be more before it ends.
Donald Trump, on the deaths of six American soldiers — which he dismissed as "the way it is"
I am opposed to this War. This is not 'America First.'
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), co-sponsor of the Iran War Powers Resolution
The Republican base doesn't want this. The Democratic base doesn't want this. Independent voters don't want this. Nobody in America is asking for their gas prices to go through the roof.
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT)
Ordinary Americans feel that Trump is setting billions of dollars on fire with no idea how that is supposed to work out, and that they will end up paying the price. And they're right.
Paul Krugman, Nobel Laureate Economist
No clear objective. No exit plan. No congressional authorization. Just $1 billion a day going up in smoke.
The Pentagon wants $50 billion more. Republicans are slashing healthcare to pay for it. And the administration can't even explain what victory looks like. As Sen. Mark Warner put it: the goals have changed four or five times already.
See the full breakdown: $50 Billion for War Isn't Putting America First