200 Days Into Trump’s $38 Billion War With Iran, New Mexicans Are Paying the Price

Donald Trump: "It's small potatoes for us. It's not a big thing." 9/4/26

New Mexico Diesel Prices Hit Record-High Under Donald Trump

Washington, D.C. - Two hundred days ago, President Trump launched the United States into a reckless war with Iran with no plan, no strategy, and no end game. Although he repeatedly assured the American people of a quick and decisive victory. His timeline has moved again and again: from "total and complete victory" and a war "won" in its "first hour," to promising success in "two or three days," "two weeks," "three weeks," "four weeks," "five weeks," or "six weeks." He later announced an agreement with Iran that he said achieved "everything we set out to accomplish," only to declare that agreement "over" just weeks later. Now, 200 days into the war, he's claiming his war will be over "shortly after" the November election.

"New Mexicans are still paying the price for Donald Trump's 200-day war in Iran, with no end in sight. This war has cost taxpayers nearly $40 billion, driven up prices for families, depleted critical resources, and put our service members in harm's way," said Senator Luján. "Yet as this war continues to spiral out of control, Congressional Republicans have repeatedly refused to stand up to President Trump."

"New Mexicans should not have to pay more at the pump and at the grocery store for a war they never wanted," Senator Luján continued. "I will keep fighting to end this war and stop New Mexico families from being forced to foot the bill for this reckless president."

Americans are paying for every additional day this war drags on. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated the Department of Defense had already incurred approximately $38 billion in costs as of August 1-before the last month and a half of fighting. CBO estimates that every additional month of this war could add another $2 billion to $3 billion to the price tag, not including costs to repair the vast damage Iran has inflicted on our bases or what it will cost to rebuild our depleted munitions supply.

Americans have also already spent more than $107 billion extra on gasoline and diesel because of Trump's war, amounting to over $820 per household. The New Mexico average for gas has surged to $4.47 per gallon while diesel has reached a high of $6.34 per gallon. Higher gas and diesel prices are also pushing up Americans' costs on everything from groceries to home energy to air travel.

Two hundred days into the conflict, Americans are facing billions in federal costs, nearly two-thirds say going to war was the wrong decision-and there is still no end in sight.

February

President Donald Trump: "I can go long and take over the whole thing, or end it in two or three days." [Axios, 2/28/26]

March

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth: "We can say four weeks, but it could be six, it could be eight, it could be three." [Press Briefing, 3/4/26]

President Donald Trump: "We've already won in many ways, but we haven't won enough." [Speech, 3/9/26]

President Donald Trump: "We had to do a little excursion, if you don't mind, a little excursion to take care of nuclear weaponry in the hands of maniacs. But other than that, in a couple of weeks and won't be much longer, it's moving along fast. We're way ahead of schedule. Did you know that, Mr. Speaker? I'm trying to save a lot of money by being ahead of schedule. We're way ahead of schedule." [Remarks,3/17/26]

President Donald Trump: "Well, I think we're going to end it. I can't tell you for sure. You know, I don't like to say this, we've won this - this war has been won." [Press Conference, 3/24/26]

President Donald Trump: "We estimated it would take approximately four to six weeks to achieve our mission, and we're way ahead of schedule. If you look at what we've done in terms of the destruction of that country, I mean, we're way ahead. Think of it, they have no Navy, and they had good ships. 154 ships have been shot down and are resting very nicely at the bottom of the sea. And we did that in a matter of less than a week, because we have the greatest military in the world by far, nobody even close. So, we estimated it would take approximately four to six weeks to achieve our mission. 26 days in, we're extremely - really a lot ahead of schedule." [Cabinet Meeting, 3/26/26]

President Donald Trump: "I would say that within two weeks, maybe two weeks, maybe three, we're hitting them very hard. Last night we knocked out tremendous amounts of missile making facilities. We, as you probably read or wrote, we'll be gone." [Remarks, 3/31/26]

April

President Donald Trump: "The war is going to be over in three days. My prediction." [Remarks, 4/1/26]

President Donald Trump: "We are the winner. We won." [Press Conference,4/6/26]

President Donald Trump: "If you told me that we were going to be at only 92 a barrel, $92 a barrel, I would have been very surprised. And you know what? I'm very happy and it's going to come dropping down very big as soon as it's over and I think it can be over very soon. If they're smart, it will end soon." [Fox Business,4/15/26]

President Donald Trump: "I will say the war in Iran is going along swimmingly. We can do whatever we want. And it should be ending pretty soon. It was perfect. [Speech, 4/16/26]

President Donald Trump: "We won everything. We have all the cards." [Press Gaggle, 4/25/26]

May

President Donald Trump: "We've taken out much of what we'd have to do,probably another two weeks, two weeks, maybe three weeks." [Interview,5/4/26]

Secretary of State Marco Rubio: "The operation is over." [Press Briefing, 5/5/26]

President Donald Trump: "I think we're going to be finished with that very quickly and they won't have a nuclear weapon and hopefully we're going to get it done in a very nice manner." [Remarks, 5/19/26]

June

Secretary of State Marco Rubio: "The war is over." [Committee Hearing, 6/2/26]

President Donald Trump: "You're really going to win it over the next two weeks when we declare total victory. It'll be a total victory. It'll happen very soon." [Tele-Rally, 6/8/26]

President Donald Trump: "Two or three days." [Press Gaggle, 6/9/26]

President Donald Trump: "I don't know if you heard, but we ended the war with Iran today." [Tele-Rally, 6/11/26]

Defense Secretary Pete Hesgeth: "We're on the verge of a deal." [CBS News Face the Nation, 6/14/26]

President Donald Trump: "On Sunday, we reached an agreement with Iran that achieves everything we set out to accomplish-everything and much more." [Press Conference, 6/17/26]

July

President Donald Trump: "We have many ways we can win, but we've already won militarily. They have very little left, and they want to make a deal so badly." [Press Gaggle, 7/9/26]

President Donald Trump: "We'll have Iran defeated soon. They'll be defeated very soon." [Remarks, 7/15/26]

President Donald Trump: "We are, likewise, winning big in Iran, and you will see the fruits of that labor very shortly." [Remarks, 7/17/26]

August

President Donald Trump: "We're moving along very nicely." [Press Gaggle,8/5/26]

President Donald Trump: "Some good things are going to happen very soon. They've already happened." [Remarks, 8/16/26]

President Donald Trump: "I have no time schedule…I'm not in a hurry." [Fox News,8/17/26]

President Donald Trump: "But right now, I think the situation is so good." [Press Gaggle, 8/19/26]

September

President Donald Trump: "It's small potatoes for us. It's not a big thing." [Press Briefing, 9/4/26]

President Donald Trump: "The war will be over very shortly after the election." [Speech, 9/9/26]

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Contact: Adán Serna, [email protected]