{"id":6483,"date":"2026-08-27T18:18:01","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T01:18:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/?p=6483"},"modified":"2026-08-27T19:59:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T02:59:10","slug":"trumps-war-on-iran-is-rapidly-draining-us-navy-budget-documents-and-interviews-reveal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abovecloud.xyz\/?p=6483","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2019s war on Iran is rapidly draining US navy budget, documents and interviews reveal"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>5 Minute, 10 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n

Exclusive: Experts and former officials say accounts are running dry, and funding a war with no clear endgame is the main challenge<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Donald Trump\u2019s\u00a0war on Iran<\/a>\u00a0has driven the US military into a severe financial crisis, with the US navy forced to transfer money from its payroll and other sources to cover the costs of combat, according to documents obtained by the Guardian, and interviews with navy officials, contractors and defense analysts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The US-Israeli operation, which has depleted US munitions stockpiles and prompted retaliatory Iranian strikes that have wrecked strategic bases across the Middle East, is piling pressure on budgets across the military.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One Pentagon memo about navy funding seen by the Guardian warns that there are \u201cshortfalls in payroll\u201d accounts due to the department \u201craiding\u201d them to fund combat operations.

Experts and former officials say the accounts are running dry. \u201cThe piggy bank is broken,\u201d said Harlan Ullman, a retired naval officer. Ullman is a member of the National Commission for the Future of the Navy but he said he is not speaking on the commission\u2019s behalf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One official and one navy contractor said non-emergency maintenance on shore-based facilities has been deferred because of the cash crunch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Trump started the war on 28 February, it quickly strained the military\u2019s existing budgets \u2013 particularly that of the navy, which not only helped launch the initial wave of attacks but was later responsible for an extensive naval blockade. The White House eventually asked Congress for emergency funding to pay for the war efforts, but prospects that the request will be approved are dim amid the unpopularity of the war.

A navy official who was briefed on how the service is planning to address the shortfalls said money is shifted around in imaginative ways. \u201cThe money for payroll,\u201d he said, \u201cwas robbed to pay for overseas contingencies and is being backfilled by money that hasn\u2019t been spent. They are backfilling payroll so we get enough money in our paycheck.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The navy\u2019s budget for 2026, almost $300bn, has different batches of money allocated by Congress for various requirements: personnel, shipbuilding, procuring specific weapons systems and \u201coperations and maintenance\u201d, the day-to-day running of the fleet and its bases. The law limits how money can be rejiggered throughout all those batches of money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The issue has occasionally surfaced in some hearings on Capitol Hill. Susan Collins, in a 21 July hearing of the Senate appropriations committee, said: \u201cI\u2019m told some military services face near-term solvency challenges.\u201d <\/em>A staffer said the navy was one of the services Collins was referring to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a statement, a navy spokesperson said maintenance and operations funds have not been depleted. \u201cThe Department of the Navy,\u201d the statement said, \u201cis actively managing its resources to meet current pay obligations on time. We continue to work closely with Congress to address ongoing operational demands and sustain our personnel and readiness throughout the fiscal year.\u201d

Inside the service, the cash shortage is no secret. \u201cThey\u2019re just not speaking publicly about it,\u201d said Todd Harrison, a defense analyst at the conservative American Enterprise Institute. \u201cAnd I suspect that is a deliberate decision of the civilian leaders in the Pentagon, starting at secretary, that this is for political reasons, that they don\u2019t want to look like they\u2019re damaging future military readiness over a war that is becoming increasingly a political liability.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018We face critical shortfalls\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The military knew the crisis was coming. In mid-May, Adm Daryl Caudle, chief of naval operations, cautioned Congress that the crunch would hit in July. \u201cThe FY \u201926 budget didn\u2019t bake in Epic Fury,\u201d he said. \u201cI do fear that I\u2019ll have to start making decisions in the July timeframe on how I do force generation. That could make differences between how I do exercises, how I do routine operations in order to make sure that I \u2026 have the funds necessary to continue the war effort for Epic Fury.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pete Hegseth has pushed Congress for emergency funding, without which, he said in July, \u201cwe face critical shortfalls\u201d. The defense secretary testified that the Iran war cost $35.7bn, but it\u2019s unclear if that is a full accounting of the war\u2019s costs.

When the Trump administration asked Congress for $67bn in emergency funds for the defense department, it didn\u2019t break down how much would be for the navy. The House passed a $1.15tn defense bill<\/a> in July and a separate budget authorization that would provide $73bn for the war in Iran, but it\u2019s unlikely either will become law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ullman noted that during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, funding was more forthcoming from Congress because those conflicts were authorized by a resolution. \u201cThere is no authorization to use force in this case. Is Congress obliged to pay for a conflict it did not authorize?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018They ran out of their money\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The fact that the navy is broke \u2013 or at least out of money for now \u2013 may be something of a slap in the face for Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The president has often evoked what he sees as his affinity with Theodore Roosevelt, who was president from 1901 to 1909 and presided over the expansion of the US navy, deploying the so-called \u201cGreat White Fleet\u201d that steamed around the world. Instead of a Great White Fleet, Trump\u2019s administration has embraced the term \u201cGolden Fleet\u201d. Among his naval ambitions: plans for mammoth \u201cTrump class\u201d ships \u2013 the largest battleships in US history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump\u2019s micromanagement has included directing the navy to redesign an aircraft carrier so it launches jets with a steam and hydraulic catapult system rather than by an electromagnetic system. As the Guardian<\/a> reported, every year since 2017 he has opined about his preferences in carrier launch catapults.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At this point, however, funding a war with no clear endgame is the main challenge. A former military officer now working for a navy contracting company, who has been briefed on the shortfalls, said: \u201cThey\u2019re fucked. They shot all their weapons; they trashed all their ships; they ran out of their money.\u201d

Reprinted from The Guardian<\/p>\n

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