President Donald Trump promised to run the government like a business. Unfortunately, his model seems to be the one that burns money.
Most CEOs who waste billions of dollars on failed projects get a summons from the board of directors — and often, the boot.
But we live in the era of Elon Musk’s rocket ships and OpenAI’s chatbots, where business leaders can burn staggering amounts of money chasing their own obsessions and simply ask investors for more.
Trump’s response to an expensive military failure is the same as Silicon Valley’s response to many unprofitable startups: spend even more money.
After five months, the official Pentagon estimate is that the Iran war has cost $38 billion so far. The actual bill likely will be even higher.
And that’s just the direct costs. The war has sent oil and gas prices higher while making one of the world’s most important shipping lanes — the Strait of Hormuz — more expensive and risky to navigate.
War-related inflation has already cost the average household more than $574 in higher fuel costs alone, according to a Brown University tracker.
Rather than rethink his strategy, however, Trump is doubling down, going back to Congress to ask for a 50% increase in defense spending.
Read Rick Newman’s analysis here.
