Trump news at a glance: president’s war on Iran is putting billions on the US till

US spent $11.3bn on bombs in the first six days of the US and Israel's joint attack on Iran - key US politics stories from 18 March 2026 at a glance

Part of Donald Trump's pitch to voters was that, if he became president again, he would rein in government spending and not send US troops to war. He may have campaigned with promises, but he's governing with billions of dollars worth of bombs dropping on Iran.

In the six days that followed the US and Israel's joint attack on Iran on 28 February, $11.3bn was spent on American taxpayer-funded bombs that hit the country and caused hundreds of deaths, the Pentagon has told lawmakers. This figure does not capture the full cost of the conflict, such as deployment of forces, and will now be far higher given the ongoing nature of the war.