--- title: What US Spending on the War in Iran Could Fund Instead description: The Iran war has cost the U.S. $12 billion so far, says a Trump official. How else could that money have been used? We crunched the numbers. canonical: https://time.com/article/2026/03/16/what-us-spending-on-the-war-in-iran-could-fund-instead/ author: Nik Popli article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2026-03-16T21:35:07.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-19T07:44:50.820Z article:section: Politics og:title: What US Spending on the War in Iran Could Fund Instead og:description: The Iran war has cost the U.S. $12 billion so far, says a Trump official. How else could that money have been used? We crunched the numbers. og:url: https://time.com/article/2026/03/16/what-us-spending-on-the-war-in-iran-could-fund-instead/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt377e0c877d1b1eae/69b87aca0523226db79e926e/GettyImages-2266243698.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: GettyImages-2266243698.jpg og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: What US Spending on the War in Iran Could Fund Instead twitter:description: The Iran war has cost the U.S. $12 billion so far, says a Trump official. How else could that money have been used? We crunched the numbers. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt377e0c877d1b1eae/69b87aca0523226db79e926e/GettyImages-2266243698.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # What US Spending on the War in Iran Could Fund Instead  by [Nik Popli](/author/nik-popli/)  ## Nik Popli Staff Writer Mar 16, 2026 9:35 PM CUT  People clear rubble in a house in Tehran's Beryanak District on March 15, 2026, after it was damaged by missile attacks two days earlier in the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran People clear rubble in a house in Tehran's Beryanak District on March 15, 2026, after it was damaged by missile attacks two days earlier in the U.S.-Israeli conflict with IranMajid Saeedi—Getty Images  by [Nik Popli](/author/nik-popli/)  ## Nik Popli Staff Writer Mar 16, 2026 9:35 PM CUT The United States has spent at least $12 billion on its [war with Iran](https://time.com/article/2026/03/16/why-no-opposition-inside-iran-to-take-over/ "undefined") in just the first two weeks of the conflict, according to Trump Administration officials, a figure that is quickly becoming a flashpoint among [the war’s critics](https://time.com/article/2026/03/11/-it-is-so-much-worse-than-you-thought-classified-iran-briefings-leave-democrats-furious "undefined") who argue the money could instead fund health care, education, and other domestic programs. The latest estimate was provided on Sunday by Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, who said in an [interview with CBS News](https://www.cbsnews.com/video/trump-economic-adviser-kevin-hassett-says-of-iran-war-funding-right-now-weve-got-what-need/ "undefined") that the military campaign had cost roughly $12 billion so far. Days earlier, Pentagon officials told members of Congress in a [classified briefing](https://time.com/article/2026/03/11/-it-is-so-much-worse-than-you-thought-classified-iran-briefings-leave-democrats-furious "undefined") that the operation had already cost $11.3 billion in its first six days alone. Those figures almost certainly understate the true cost, as it does not include the [large buildup](https://time.com/7358425/trump-iran-massive-armada-nuclear-deal/ "undefined") of forces and equipment before the first strikes, nor the long-term expense of [replacing the sophisticated weapons](https://time.com/7382582/trump-iran-war-weapons-stockpiles/ "undefined") now being used at a rapid pace. The Center for Strategic and International Studies, an independent think tank, had previously [estimated](https://www.csis.org/analysis/37-billion-estimated-cost-epic-furys-first-100-hours "undefined") that the first 100 hours of the operation cost roughly $891.4 million each day, a pace that could soon force the Administration to request a supplemental spending bill from Congress for tens of billions of more dollars. The scale of the spending has fueled criticism from Democrats and some fiscal hawks, who argue that the war’s early price tag already rivals the annual budgets of major domestic programs. “While there is no money for 15 million Americans who lost their health care, there's a billion dollars a day to spend on bombing Iran,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts told reporters after a classified briefing last week. "$11.3 billion would have fully funded the training of 100,000 new nurses to solve our staffing crisis,” [added](https://x.com/RepDianaDeGette/status/2032480727367897506 "undefined") Rep. Diana DeGette of Colorado in a social media post. “Instead, it was spent in just six days on an illegal war with no endgame.” Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs Committee made a similar argument, [writing](https://x.com/HouseForeign/status/2032098022184587611 "undefined") that the Trump Administration had spent nearly $12 billion on an “open-ended war of choice in the Middle East” while allocating “zero dollars to lower your healthcare costs.” Here are some of the ways the $12 billion already spent on the Iran war could have been used, based on publicly available data. ## Health care for 1.3 million Americans for a year The billions already spent on the war could finance health coverage for more than a million Americans. [Federal data show](https://www.macpac.gov/publication/medicaid-benefit-spending-per-full-year-equivalent-fye-enrollee-by-state-and-eligibility-group/ "undefined") that the government spent about $9,100 per Medicaid enrollee per year in 2023\. At that rate, the roughly $12 billion the United States has spent on the conflict so far could cover the costs of a full year of health insurance for about 1.3 million people, a population roughly the size of Dallas, Tex. The comparison is particularly striking as Republicans in Congress had previously rejected extending Affordable Care Act subsidies that expired last year. During [Senate testimony](https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/icymi-cbo-director-confirms-the-cost-of-trumps-war-in-iran-could-cover-health-care-for-millions-of-americans "undefined") on March 11, Phillip Swagel, director of the independent Congressional Budget Office, confirmed that extending the enhanced tax credits that helped Americans afford coverage under the ACA would have cost about $30 billion for one year. If the costs of the war continue to match the first two weeks, the U.S. could spend the cost of those annual subsidies in about five weeks. ## Full year of food assistance for 5.5 million Americans The average benefit under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) was [$177 per person per month](https://www.fns.usda.gov/research/snap/characteristics-fy23 "undefined"), or $2,124 per year, in 2023\. Using those figures, $12 billion would cover a full year of food assistance to about 5.5 million Americans, which is roughly 13% of all SNAP recipients, or a little over a month of SNAP benefits for all Americans currently enrolled in the program. Alternatively, the billions of dollars could be used to finance hundreds of millions of public school breakfasts and lunches for students nationwide. ## Housing assistance for around 1 million Americans [Federal housing assistance programs](https://bipartisanpolicy.org/explainer/appropriations-update-final-fy2026-thud-funding-summary/ "undefined") generally cost about $8,000 to $15,000 per household per year, depending on the type of voucher or subsidy. At that rate, $12 billion could support housing assistance for 800,000 to 1.5 million low-income Americans for a year. The same funding could also finance construction subsidies for tens of thousands of affordable housing units, depending on building costs and how the funding is structured. ## The entire National Park Service The annual budget of the National Park Service—the agency that manages America’s national parks, monuments and historic sites—is about [$3.3 billion](https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IF13116 "undefined") for the 2026 fiscal year. That means $12 billion could fund the entire National Park Service for more than three years, covering operations across more than 400 parks and public lands nationwide. Those funds support park rangers, maintenance crews, conservation programs, and visitor services for hundreds of millions of visitors each year. ## Child care or universal pre-K for 900,000 children Child care in the United States costs more than [$13,000 per year](https://www.childcareaware.org/price-landscape24/ "undefined") on average. Using that benchmark, $12 billion could cover a year of care for roughly 900,000 children. The same amount could also finance universal pre-K education for roughly 900,000 children for a full year, given that [estimates](https://nieer.org/research-library/universal-pre-k "undefined") generally place the cost of a universal pre-kindergarten program at roughly $12,500 per child per year. ## Pell grants for 1.6 million students The maximum award under the Pell Grant, which helps low-income students afford college, was [$7,395](https://studentaid.gov/help-center/answers/article/how-much-money-can-i-get-federal-pell-grant "undefined") for the 2025-2026 academic year. At that level, $12 billion could provide about 1.6 million students with a full Pell Grant for a year, or could be used to expand smaller grants to millions more students. ## More than 100,000 teachers and nurses The United States is facing teacher and nurse shortages across the country, particularly in rural areas and high-poverty communities, where schools and hospitals often struggle to recruit and retain workers. The average public school teacher salary in the United States was about $72,030 in the 2023-24 school year, according to [national education statistics](https://www.nea.org/resource-library/educator-pay-and-student-spending-how-does-your-state-rank "undefined"). Using that benchmark, $12 billion could pay the annual salaries of roughly 166,000 teachers, roughly equivalent to employing the [entire teaching workforce of the state of Florida](https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/tables/202223%5Fsummary%5F2.asp "undefined"). Workforce programs that train nurses typically cost tens of thousands of dollars per student, depending on the type of program and clinical training involved. Using an estimated $100,000 per nurse to cover tuition and training, $12 billion could fund the education of roughly 120,000 new nurses. ## Foreign and humanitarian aid In his first year back in office, Trump slashed foreign aid spending. Nonetheless, the U.S. remains the world’s largest provider of humanitarian assistance. In fiscal year 2025, it provided roughly [$4.5 billion in humanitarian aid](https://foreignassistance.gov/ "undefined"), a drop from about $15.3 billion in the previous fiscal year. The $12 billion already spent on the war in Iran is more than the cuts in humanitarian assistance Trump made in his first term. Conversely, that $12 billion could fund U.S. humanitarian assistance abroad at the current levels for nearly three years. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/03/16/what-us-spending-on-the-war-in-iran-could-fund-instead/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/03/16/what-us-spending-on-the-war-in-iran-could-fund-instead/"},"headline":"What US Spending on the War in Iran Could Fund Instead","datePublished":"2026-03-16T21:35:07.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-19T07:44:50.820Z","description":"How about health care for 1.3 million Americans or the entire National Park Service?","url":"https://time.com/article/2026/03/16/what-us-spending-on-the-war-in-iran-could-fund-instead/","keywords":["Congress","Explainer","Iran"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt377e0c877d1b1eae/69b87aca0523226db79e926e/GettyImages-2266243698.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nik Popli","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/nik-popli/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt377e0c877d1b1eae/69b87aca0523226db79e926e/GettyImages-2266243698.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"GettyImages-2266243698.jpg","caption":"","creditText":"Majid Saeedi—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/congress/","name":"Congress"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/03/16/what-us-spending-on-the-war-in-iran-could-fund-instead/","name":"What US Spending on the War in Iran Could Fund Instead"}}]}] ```