{"id":39698,"date":"2026-06-25T05:05:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T04:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kaizen-blog.org\/?p=39698"},"modified":"2026-06-25T05:05:04","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T04:05:04","slug":"876-milliarden-dollar-trump-schickt-die-rechnung","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kaizen-blog.org\/en\/876-milliarden-dollar-trump-schickt-die-rechnung\/","title":{"rendered":"87.6 Billion Dollars: Trump Sends the Bill"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wars rarely end with victory. Most end with a bill. The bill for the Iran war - officially \"Operation Epic Fury\" - was submitted by the White House to Congress on Wednesday: 87.6 billion dollars spread across ammunition, fuel, classified programs, drone production, cybersecurity, and a series of items that have about as much to do with the war as Penn Station has to do with the Persian Gulf.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The largest block, 67 billion dollars, is intended to reimburse the Pentagon for the costs of the Iran war. Of that, 21 billion is allocated to weapons and ammunition, 17.3 billion to operational costs, and 12.1 billion to classified programs. Added to that are 11.1 billion for American farmers, including 10 billion for field crop and specialty crop producers and another 1.1 billion specifically for Florida, whose agricultural sector suffered storm damage last winter. Another 1.4 billion is designated for Ebola response efforts in Central Africa, where an outbreak claimed more than 250 lives. And 500 million dollars are set aside for \"restoration and construction projects in and around Washington, D.C.\" - a category whose connection to a Middle East war is not immediately obvious to a sober observer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most elegant move in the package is the planned one billion dollars for the expansion of Penn Station in New York. Penn Station. The deteriorating station in the heart of Manhattan whose modernization Senate and House Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries have fought for over for years. The White House did not place that item in the war supplemental package by accident. It is bait. Whoever votes for Penn Station votes for the war. Whoever votes against the war has to explain to voters why the station continues to decay. This is not budget policy. It is political pressure wrapped in a sleight of hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Russ Vought, Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, asked Speaker Mike Johnson in an accompanying letter to act quickly. Quick action is exactly what Congress has so far refused to provide - and for one simple reason: nearly four months after the war began on February 28, 2026, the White House still has not delivered a formal assessment of the Iran war to Congress. No hearing. No briefing. Nothing. Members of both parties have complained publicly about this. Elected representatives are being asked to approve 87.6 billion dollars for a war they still have not officially been briefed on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also on Wednesday, a loud confrontation broke out during a Capitol lunch between Trump and Republican senators - including Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana - over their support for a War Powers Resolution that would halt further hostilities against Iran. Trump openly vented his anger within his own party. That is not a sign of strength. It is the behavior of a man realizing that Congress is no longer willing to silently follow every step.<\/p>\n\n\n\n