Removal under the 25th Amendment
Face of the war
Purge at the Pentagon
Donald Trump is urgently trying to bring the war with Iran to an end. After more than a month of fighting, during which the president demanded in profane terms that the Iranian authorities reopen the blocked Strait of Hormuz and threatened to destroy their entire civilization, he announced a ceasefire. The sides are now holding talks, the outcome of which is far from certain. At the same time, the United States, seeking to pressure Iran, began its own blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, and Trump said that the United States could charge ships for passage through the chokepoint — possibly even jointly with Iran.
The war with Iran quickly became a heavy burden for the White House. The first month of military operations cost the U.S. budget $31 billion, not counting damage to military facilities and lost equipment. In the draft federal budget for 2027, the Trump administration proposed a 44% increase in defense spending, raising the total to $1.5 trillion. If adopted, defense expenditures would constitute 4.5% of GDP. On top of that, last year Congress approved a $150 billion increase in the Pentagon budget as part of the “Big Beautiful Bill.”
