The United States on Thursday approved $16.46 billion in military sales to the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, as Washington moves to bolster key Gulf allies impacted by the fallout from the Iran war.Meanwhile, the Pentagon has reportedly requested an additional $200 billion from the White House to fund the war, a senior administration official said, as cited by AP.
The additional $200 billion request marks an exceptionally large increase, coming on top of the extra funding the US department of defence secured last year under President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax cuts legislation.Asked about the figure at a press conference on Thursday, US defence secretary Pete Hegseth did not confirm the amount, saying it remained subject to change.“It takes money to kill bad guys,” Hegseth said.He added that “we’re going back to Congress and our folks there to ensure that we’re properly funded.”House speaker Mike Johnson called it a “dangerous time” and said “we have to adequately fund defense.”When asked if he backed the proposed amount, he said he had not reviewed the details, adding, “I support what’s needed to ensure that the American people remain safe.”The United States has spent more than $11 billion in the first week of the conflict, a figure affirmed by White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett. However, officials told lawmakers in a closed-door briefing that the cost had already exceeded this amount within the first six days of operations, indicating the financial toll may be significantly higher than publicly disclosed, according to The Guardian.Two government officials familiar with Operation Epic Fury said the war is costing between $1 billion and $2 billion per day, roughly $11,500 to $23,000 per second.They warned that at this rate, the total cost could rise to $250 billion or more in the coming months, highlighting the rapidly escalating financial burden of the conflict, according to The Intercept.
