Trump’s War is over. Iran Won

Bill Press, Tribune Content Agency on Jun 18, 2026

It’s hard to believe anybody could spend $113 billion and get nothing for it. Donald Trump just did. But, of course, it wasn’t his money. It was yours and mine.

Trump’s war in Iran is probably the most expensive, ill-conceived, mismanaged, and least effective war in history. If, in fact, the war is over (and who really knows?), the results are stunning. Iran’s brutal regime is still in power. Iran still has most of its missile and drone stockpile. And Iran still has its nuclear capacity.

In Trump’s “memorandum of understanding” (MOU), Iran only agreed abandoning efforts to enrich uranium and thereby build a nuclear weapon would be “adequately addressed” in future talks. Even though – and here’s the key point – they had already agreed to abandon their nuclear weapons program in a deal negotiated with President Obama in 2015 – an agreement canceled by Donald Trump in May 2018, for no apparent reason.

Bottom line. After 109 days of war, as of June 17, Iran is stronger and the United States is weaker. They won, we lost. Thank you, Donald.

Actually, the total cost of the war will be much higher than the Pentagon’s estimated $113.3 billion. According to Harvard public finance expert Linda Bilmes, once you factor in additional expenses of winding down the war, repairing damaged military bases and restocking munitions, the total direct military cost will be more than $1 trillion. Not to mention an estimated $1.3 trillion cost to the global economy because of disruption of oil flow. Nor the human cost of 15 American troops killed, 538 wounded and more than 1,700 civilian Iranian deaths.

The Iran War has been a disaster from day one. It’s something Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu had been begging American presidents to do for decades. He finally found one president dumb enough to do so. Even though he promised in his 2024 victory speech “I am not going to start a war,” Trump launched war against Iran without consulting Congress or our allies, and without explaining to the American people why we were going to war, what we hoped to achieve, how long it would last or how we would get out of it.

If only Trump had taken time to do a little homework. Because of his support for the war in Iraq, I’m no fan of Secretary of State Colin Powell, but give him credit for this. After America’s disastrous involvement in Vietnam, Powell laid down rules for any future military action in what became known as the “Powell Doctrine.”

Before making a decision to go to war, Powell said, any president had to ask eight questions: Is a vital national security interest threatened? Do we have a clear attainable objective? Have the risks and costs been fully and frankly analyzed? Have all other nonviolent policy means been fully exhausted? Is there a plausible exit strategy to avoid endless entanglement? Have the consequences of our action been fully considered? Is the action supported by the American people? And do we have genuine broad international support?

Military action was only justified, Powell asserted, if every one of those questions was asked – and answered in the affirmative. He also stressed that when America went to war, decisive force should be used in order to end the conflict quickly by forcing the enemy to capitulate.

Donald Trump did none of the above. The result is what Republican Senator Bill Cassidy acidly described as a “tremendous foreign policy blunder.” Indeed, it’s hard to see the MOU signed by Trump as anything but a gift to Iran’s repressive religious regime. All sanctions against Iran are lifted. The U.S. will free some $100 billion in frozen Iranian assets. On top of that, Iran will be awarded a $300 billion reconstruction fund. And Iran will get control over the Strait of Hormuz, which it never had before. According to the agreement, Iran promises to charge no fees for ships entering or leaving the Strait, but only for 60 days – after which anything goes.

And what did Americans get out of Trump’s war? Higher gas prices, higher grocery prices and higher airline fares, estimated at $2,000 for every American household.

Trump bristles at those who note, correctly, that Obama’s initial deal was better than the one he signed after his silly war. “They said he’s a stupid son of a bitch,” Trump fumed. But after reviewing the terms of Trump’s MOU with Iran, it’s clear who the “stupid son of a bitch” is. And it’s not Obama.

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(Bill Press is host of The BillPressPod, and author of 10 books, including: “From the Left: My Life in the Crossfire.” His email address is: bill@billpress.com. Readers may also follow him on Twitter @billpresspod and on BlueSky @BillPress.bsky.social.)