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$25 Billion: Hegseth Accused Of Lowballing Cost Of Iran War

Zero Rss
3 months 1 week ago
$25 Billion: Hegseth Accused Of Lowballing Cost Of Iran War

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth has been in a very public spat and back-and-forth with Congressional Democrats over the Trump administration's $1.5 trillion Pentagon budget request, as well as over Iran war strategy and mounting costs.

Hegseth has turned to some classic wartime fearmongering: "What is it worth to ensure that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon?" - he posed to members of Congress when pressed in a hearing.

Hegseth called the "reckless, feckless, and defeatist words of congressional Democrats" the United States' greatest adversary. At a moment Operation Epic Fury is about to reach 60-days on Friday, he's still insisting that this is not a 'forever war' with an open-ended timetable.

One figure to come out of the latest Congressional hearings this week is a $25 billion total Iran war price tag thus far:

A Pentagon official told the House Armed Services Committee Wednesday that the war in Iran cost the United States $25 billion in the first two months.

Facing questions from ranking member Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), Acting Defense Department comptroller Jules Hurst testified that most of the cost was “in munitions” plus “[operations and maintenance] and equipment replacement.”

Smith thanked the Pentagon official for offering the most specific cost estimate since its first week, when Hurst said the price tag was roughly $11 billion. “I’m glad you answered that question because we’ve been asking for a hell of a long time and no one has given us the number.”

via Reuters

However, the $25BN number immediately raised questions among skeptics, both within Congress and among media pundits, over whether this is a lowball number.

According to Responsible Statecraft: 

Rep. Ro Khanna pushed back on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s assertion that the supplemental would only include $25 million for the mission in Iran specifically. “You’re saying $25 billion. If you come back and want to revise those numbers, because all the experts are disagreeing with you when it comes to today’s dollars in damage,” Khanna said.

Also Reuters has noted, "But it is unclear how the Pentagon arrived at the $25 billion amount given that a source had told Reuters last month that President Donald Trump's administration estimated that the first six days of the war had cost the United States at ​least $11.3 billion."

The case for skepticism is further fueled by the fact that the US military has lost so many expensive radar systems and aircraft throughout the war. 

"Iran’s missiles and drones, and one devastating instance of so-called friendly fire, have destroyed US military equipment worth between $2.3bn and $2.8bn, the Washington, DC-based Center for Strategic and International Studies has calculated," one report has underscored.

U.S. officials say the Iran war has likely cost closer to $50 billion—about double the $25 billion publicly cited by the Pentagon.

The lower figure excluded major expenses like destroyed equipment and damaged bases.

Much of the added cost comes from replacing lost munitions…

— Clash Report (@clashreport) April 30, 2026

But like with the Iraq and Afghan wars before, the true cost in both blood and treasure might not be known or fully assessed even for years to come. And that's assuming Trump's Iran quagmire gambit wraps up by then.

Tyler Durden Thu, 04/30/2026 - 18:20
Tyler Durden

AI Hype Meets Hardware Crunch As US Power Equipment Market Eyes $65 Billion Boom

Zero Rss
3 months 1 week ago
AI Hype Meets Hardware Crunch As US Power Equipment Market Eyes $65 Billion Boom

Wood McKenzie has released a report that US spending on power generation gear for data centers alone could hit $65 billion by 2030, more than triple the $20 billion logged last year. Data center capacity is forecast to reach 110 GW by the end of the decade, with Bloomberg also commenting that “total US spending on power-plant equipment may climb to $215 billion."

The increased spending for the heavy electrical equipment market sounds great, but unfortunately, there's no equipment to buy domestically.

WoodMac Sounds Alarm On Transformer Shortage Amid AI Data Center Boom https://t.co/PAIIhAfS5f

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) August 16, 2025

Lead times for transformers, switchgear, and related gear stretch from 18-36 months and much of the shortfall is filled by imports from China, exposing the supply chain to the very geopolitical risks Washington claims to be racing against. The heavy reliance on imports for these grid-critical items led to the massive stack of Defense Production Act orders put out by the administration in April. 

Sightline Climate data highlighted earlier shows nearly half of the roughly 16 GW of US data center capacity slated to break ground in 2026 now faces delay or outright cancellation. Only about 5 GW sit under active construction.

The explosion in AI data center energy demand has been ongoing for years now. From PJM’s frantic scramble for 15 gigawatts of new supply to feed hyperscaler loads to the eye watering capacity auction price spikes that data centers helped trigger.

That squeeze is accelerating two parallel trends. 

First, hyperscalers are increasingly turning to behind the meter solutions. These include small nuclear reactors or gas fired generation directly on site. This approach allows them to bypass years-long waits for grid interconnection. Examples include Brookfield’s nuclear tied cloud venture to Nano Nuclear modular reactor studies and Talen Energy’s direct hookups.

Second, the cost pressure on households is drawing Washington’s attention. Grid upgrades required by the AI buildout have become the primary driver behind projected electricity rate increases. The Ratepayer Protection Pledge was signed back in March, which pushed hyperscalers to build, bring, or buy their own power and cover every dollar of the new transmission and distribution infrastructure. 

The White House has also framed rapid AI infrastructure buildout as a national security imperative, leading to a conflict of interests between the demand for new data centers without stressing the grid or consumers. AI has been widely labeled by the White House as necessary for the safety of the country, and is the new modern-day arms race. 

Tyler Durden Thu, 04/30/2026 - 17:55
Tyler Durden

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