WASHINGTON: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday the Iran war has cost the United States $37.5 billion so far, up from a previous estimate of nearly $29 billion in mid-May. “The estimate we have as of today is $37.5 billion,” Hegseth testified during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing at which he defended a request for some $67 billion in supplemental funding for the Pentagon.

The Trump administration is pursuing what would amount to a $1.5 trillion defense budget for fiscal 2027.