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BY THE NUMBERS: Four Months In, Trump’s War With Iran Has Cost At Least $37.5 Billion. Here’s How That Kind of Money Could Help Working Families.

By July 22, 2026No Comments

Four months ago, Donald Trump launched his deeply unpopular war with Iran. Now, according to Trump’s Defense Secretary Hegseth, the war has cost taxpayers $37.5 billion so far, with no end in sight, and that figure doesn’t even include the billions more it will cost to repair the extensive damage to US military bases overseas. 

 

Over the past year, 1.5 million kids had food snatched away from them as they lost food aid, while 8 million people have lost the health care coverage they relied on after Trump and Republicans in Congress cut health care and food assistance by over $1 trillion. But we’ve got billions for this pointless war. The truth is, Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth think there is near-unlimited money for their incompetence overseas, but not for basic programs that working families rely on. Instead of bankrolling yet another forever war overseas, working Americans could be getting so much more. Read more about what we could be spending $37.5 billion on instead of Trump’s war with Iran: 

 

Trump’s $37.5 Billion Price Tag For War With Iran Could:

 

  • Buy 8.1 billion school lunches, fully funding the program for over two years.
  • Fully fund home heating and cooling cost assistance for millions of American families for more than nine years.
  • Fund the national WIC program providing food assistance to women and children for almost five years or eliminate WIC waiting lists for infants and pregnant women entirely for nearly four decades.
  • Fully fund Head Start for more than three years, giving millions of kids high-quality early childhood education.
  • Fully reverse Trump’s cuts to food assistance for two years.
  • Extend ACA tax credits that 22 million Americans rely on for roughly 18 months. 
  • Replace all or most lead pipes in the U.S. drinking water supply (between 80% and 100%), protecting tens of millions of families from lead poisoning and exposure.
  • Fund all deferred maintenance and operations projects for K-12 public school buildings across the country.

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For the 2025–2026 school year, the USDA is reimbursing schools participating in the National School Lunch Program at a rate of $4.60 per free lunch served.