Three weeks into Donald Trump’s deeply unpopular war with Iran, the Pentagon is demanding a $200 billion supplemental to replace weapons being rapidly depleted in the Middle East and pay for expansive wartime operations. Not only would that make Trump’s war in Iran the 7th most-expensive war in U.S. history, just behind World War I, but the supplemental comes on top of the Pentagon getting an extra $152 billion from the GOP’s Big, Ugly Bill to spend this year. 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. Trump and his Republican allies in Congress were all-too-eager to rip away Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits that made health care affordable, public school funding, food assistance, and more to enrich themselves and their powerful friends. Instead of bankrolling yet another forever war overseas, working Americans could be getting so much more. Read more about what we could be spending $200 billion on instead of Trump’s war with Iran:
Trump’s Planned $200 Billion Supplemental Could:
- Buy 43.5 billion school lunches, fully funding the program for the next decade.
- Buy school supplies for every single student this school year – with $58 billion to spare.
- Fund the starting salaries of 4.2 million new teachers.
- Fully fund Head Start for more than two decades, giving millions of kids high-quality early childhood education.
- Fully fund repairs and maintenance for every K-12 public school building – with $70 billion to spare.
- Fully restore Trump’s cuts to food assistance, restoring full benefits for 4 million people – with $13 billion to spare.
- Reverse Trump’s cuts to Medicaid until mid-2030.
- Extend ACA tax credits that 22 million Americans rely on for over seven years.
- Fund nursing home care for 1.7 million seniors for a year.
- Fully fund the LIHEAP home heating and cooling cost assistance program for millions of Americans for half a century.
- Repair or replace 110,900 dangerously dilapidated bridges across the U.S.
- Replace every single lead pipe in the U.S. drinking water supply – with $150 billion to spare.
- Restore Trump’s cuts to National Parks funding, fully funding NPS for forty years.
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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.