Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks to members of the media during a press briefing at the Pentagon in Washington, Thursday, March 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
2026-03-19T13:12:17Z
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon is seeking $200 billion in additional funds for the Iran war, a senior administration official says.
The department sent the request to the White House, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private information.
It’s an extraordinarily high number and comes on top of extra funding the Defense Department already received last year in President Donald Trump’s big tax cuts bill.
Congress is bracing for a new spending request but it is not clear the White House has transmitted the request for consideration. It is unclear the spending request would have support.
The new funding request was first reported by The Washington Post. Asked about the figure at a press conference Thursday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth did not directly confirm the figure, saying it could change. But he said “we’re going back to Congress and our folks there to to ensure that we’re properly funded.”
“It takes money to kill bad guys,” Hegseth said.
Post expires at 9:09am on Friday March 20th, 2026