Pentagon Raises Cost of Iran War So Far to Nearly $29 Billion

 

May 12, 2026, 12:24 p.m. ET26 minutes ago

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/05/12/us/trump-news#section-157559250

 

Trump Administration Live Updates: Pentagon Raises Cost of Iran War So Far to Nearly $29 Billion

 

What We’re Covering Today

Military Budget: The Pentagon on Tuesday put the cost of the war on Iran at “closer” to $29 billion, roughly $4 billion more than two weeks ago, during testimony by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at a pair of hearings on the Pentagon’s $1.5 trillion budget request. But the new $29 billion figure, offered by the department’s comptroller, does not include the cost of repairs to U.S. facilities damaged by Iranian attacks. Read more ›

 

Patel Testifies: The F.B.I. director, Kash Patel, is scheduled to testify before senators on Tuesday afternoon about his agency’s budget. Mr. Patel will appear alongside other top federal law enforcement officials but is likely to face the bulk of the questions from lawmakers about agent firings, politically sensitive investigations and a news report he has disputed about his alcohol use.

 

Military Budget

Megan Mineiro

May 12, 2026, 12:24 p.m. ET26 minutes ago

Megan MineiroCongressional reporter

 

“We still have 15,000 troops that are forward deployed, more than 20 warships and an active naval blockade,” said Senator Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska, rejecting the claim from the White House that the war had wound down. “In other words, it doesn’t appear that hostilities have ended.”

 

Murkowski has spoken out against the lack of information the White House has provided Congress on the war, and its failure to seek legally required authorization to continue fighting Iran. She asked Hegseth if the Trump administration planned to seek any sort of authorization.

 

“Our view is that, should the president make the decision to recommence, that we would have all the authorities necessary to do so,” Hegseth answered. He added that the administration believed President Trump “has all the authorities he needs under Article Two.”

 

Eric Schmitt

May 12, 2026, 11:54 a.m. ET55 minutes ago

Eric SchmittDefense Department reporter

 

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ducked a question from Senator Patty Murray, Democrat of Washington, on how much it will cost to rebuild more than a dozen U.S. military bases in the Middle East damaged by Iranian missiles and drones, asking instead how much it was worth to keep Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.  The Pentagon comptroller, Jay Hurst, said earlier on Tuesday that the Pentagon hadn’t decided which bases it would rebuild and whether the host nations would help pay for the reconstruction costs.

 

Robert Jimison

May 12, 2026, 11:41 a.m. ET1 hour ago

Robert JimisonCongressional reporter

 

“I don’t trust Pakistan as far as I can throw them,” Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, said of the nation that has been the main mediator between the United States and Iran since the war began.

 

Graham’s frustration stems from a report that U.S. officials have accused Pakistan of allowing Iran to park military aircraft on its airfields to protect them from American airstrikes. Hegseth and Caine both refrained from commenting on the matter, saying they would not want to say anything that would interfere with negotiations.

 

“No wonder this damn thing is going nowhere,” Graham said.