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Last Updated on April 3, 2026.

Washington – In response to reports that the Pentagon is seeking $200 billion in supplemental funding for President Trump’s war with Iran, Win Without War Policy Director Sam Ratner released the following statement:

“Today is the 23rd anniversary of the start of the Iraq War, a generational disaster that killed thousands of U.S. troops, hundreds of thousands of civilians, and gobbled up trillions of taxpayer dollars. When George W. Bush first sought extra money to fund that illegal war of choice, the supplemental appropriation for the war came to an eye-popping $54.4 billion – a little under $100 billion in today’s dollars. Today, Donald Trump wants to see Bush’s bad bet and double it, wasting $200 billion of taxpayer money on a criminal Middle East war that no one wants. Congress shouldn’t give him a dime.

“Trump’s war with Iran is already a disaster. 13 U.S. servicemembers dead. Thousands of Iranians killed, including over 160 schoolchildren, teachers, and parents in a school struck by a U.S. missile. Bombs falling on a dozen countries in the region. Gas prices through the roof. All with no end in sight. And now, the Pentagon is saying that it needs $200 billion more in taxpayer money to continue a war Trump never should have started in the first place.

“That money could reverse many of the brutal cuts Trump has inflicted on our communities, covering Medicaid for some 25 million Americans or constructing roughly 800,000 units of affordable housing. Instead, Trump wants to use it to line the pockets of weapons makers and continue a catastrophic war.

“Donald Trump started an illegal war, and now he wants $1,500 from every household in the United States to pay for it. Congress needs to tell him no.”

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Win Without War is a diverse network of activists and national organizations working for progressive foreign policy in the United States.

March 24, 2026