Berlin, September 16, 2026. The German press is comparing the figures from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) with Donald Trump's repeated statements about "practically unlimited" ammunition stocks. According to the CBO, a non-partisan body of the US Congress, the war against Iran has cost the Pentagon $38.1 billion in its first five months. The letter, addressed on Tuesday to Democratic Representative Brendan Boyle, the top Democratic official on the House Budget Committee, specifies that the sum includes the replacement of consumed ammunition and destroyed equipment, as well as increased flight and fuel expenses. Each additional month would cost $2 to $3 billion, or up to $100 million per day. This amount largely matches the estimate of $37.5 billion put forward in July before Congress by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

The CBO also anticipates an inflationary effect: by early 2027, the annual US inflation rate is expected to be 0.5 percentage points higher than previously forecast, and core inflation, excluding energy and food, 0.3 percentage points higher, due to the rise in energy costs.

The Tagesschau emphasizes the contradiction between these figures and the presidential discourse. An independent inspection by the Department of Defense has for the first time acknowledged ammunition shortages resulting from the war: the mandatory report to Congress mentions "strategic stock gaps and bottlenecks" in supplies, without specifying which weapons systems are affected. The Pentagon says it wants to "streamline acquisition processes and production timelines," while admitting that expanding industrial capacity requires "considerable lead times."

The same report puts the cost of the first four months of engagement at $33.4 billion (approximately 28.95 billion euros), including $22.3 billion for ammunition alone. It confirms the death of seven soldiers in operation and seven others during the mission, without a direct link to hostile acts, and notes that hundreds of buildings on American bases in the region have been damaged or destroyed by Iranian strikes — damage that has not been accounted for due to uncertainty about their reconstruction.

No article links these figures to Israel's missile defense or deliveries to other allies: the German reading remains focused on the budgetary balance and what it reveals about the tensions between the Pentagon and the White House.

Copenhagen, September 16, 2026. The Danish press first picks up the figure in crowns: the $38 billion billed by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) for the American war against Iran is equivalent to 246 billion kroner, an amount that Berlingske and DR Nyheder highlight in their headlines. According to the non-partisan congressional budget agency, this six-month conflict has cost this amount so far, and the bill is expected to rise by $3 billion per month, or approximately 19 billion kroner, if operations continue.

The two headlines note that the increase in costs is mainly due to the massive consumption of ammunition, which has depleted American armament stocks. The CBO estimates that it will take up to five years to replenish these reserves, which, according to the agency, fuels concerns about the United States' ability to respond to other potential conflicts. DR Nyheder cites the Reuters agency to support this finding, while Berlingske sticks to the same figures. Berlingske adds that inflation is expected to increase by 0.5% during the first three months of 2027 due to the war, and that the bill weighs on a federal budget already under strain.

The report was requested by Brendan Boyle, Democratic elected official from Pennsylvania and highest-ranking member of the minority on the House Budget Committee. Berlingske reiterates his criticism of Donald Trump: "Donald Trump's catastrophic war in Iran has already cost the lives of brave American soldiers and injured others," Boyle states, adding that this impartial CBO report shows that the war "has also cost American taxpayers tens of billions of dollars" and continues to become more expensive, while exacerbating the state of public finances. Berlingske specifies that 18 American soldiers have been killed in this war.

Paris, September 16, 2026. The French press is devoting most of its coverage to an embarrassing rebuke for the Trump administration. In a report published on Monday, September 14, the US Department of Defense acknowledged, for the first time, a "shortage" of ammunition related to the war against Iran, a finding that the Trump administration had nonetheless refused to confirm, or even denied, in recent months, notes Le Monde.

According to the Pentagon's inspector general, Operation "Epic Fury" cost approximately $33.4 billion (29 billion euros) between February 28 and June 30, including $22.3 billion solely in expended ammunition. The document is cited as follows: "Ammunition expenditures during [this operation] have caused a shortage in strategic inventories and revealed bottlenecks within industries for the renewal of ammunition."

This finding directly contradicts statements made by Donald Trump, who claimed in July that the country had "enormous quantities of ammunition," and then, in early September, "practically unlimited quantities." The press recalls that this shortage had nonetheless, according to several American press reports, led the president to abandon plans to renew large-scale attacks against Tehran during the summer. BFMTV summarizes: the report reveals "insufficient production capacities, despite Donald Trump's repeated denials."

Mexico, September 16, 2026. The Mexican press is reporting, figure by figure, the tally drawn up by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) on the American war against Iran: $38.1 billion spent as of August 1, and up to $3 billion more each month if the conflict continues, according to the non-partisan agency cited by El Norte and Vanguardia MX. This total matches two previous counts, the $37.5 billion mentioned in July by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth before the Senate, and the $33.4 billion calculated by the Pentagon's inspector general for the period from February 28 to June 30.

Vanguardia MX emphasizes that this calculation was produced at the request of Democratic Representative Brendan Boyle, of the House Budget Committee, and does not include expenses related to military personnel killed, wounded, or receiving medical care after nearly seven months of attacks. The newspaper also reports the most sensitive projection for the Mexican economy: the CBO anticipates that the war will fuel American inflation until the first quarter of 2027, with a price increase of around 0.5 percentage points higher than previous forecasts, due to the decrease in oil and gas shipments through the Strait of Ormuz and disruptions to maritime traffic in the Red Sea.

El Financiero details the second part of the bill, the replenishment of ammunition stocks. The Pentagon acknowledges, in a report cited by the newspaper, that the Patriot and THAAD anti-missile interceptors are among the weapons whose reserves are already critically low, consumed by both Iranian strikes against American forces and the defense of Israel. Despite President Trump's statements about continuous production, the newspaper recalls that ammunition is traditionally the variable adjustment in the Pentagon's budgets, sacrificed for the benefit of ships, tanks, and combat aircraft, a choice that will now take years to correct.

Lima, September 16, 2026. The Peruvian press is closely following the official US assessments of the cost of the war against Iran, seeing an unsettling signal about the limits of US military power. RPP Noticias highlights that the bill, established jointly by the Pentagon's inspector general and the Congressional Budget Office, has reached $38 billion as of August 1, to which are added damages to hundreds of military structures spread across eight countries in the Middle East: Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman, and Jordan.

The details of the material losses are noteworthy: four F-15 fighter jets destroyed, thirty MQ-9 Reaper drones annihilated, as well as damage to an F-35, twelve KC-135 tanker planes, and an A-10 attack aircraft. The destruction of the main US naval logistics center in Manama, Bahrain, has forced Washington to transfer its supply operations to Diego Garcia, lengthening transit times by two to two and a half weeks.

El Comercio, for its part, emphasizes the contradiction between President Donald Trump's statements and the conclusions of the inspector general's report. Trump had described in June the information about rationing Patriot missiles as "concerning" and assured that US stocks were "practically unlimited". The report, confirmed on Monday according to the daily, concludes instead to a shortage of strategic ammunition and "bottlenecks" in the reconstitution chains of advanced armament.

Moscow, Wednesday, September 16, 2026. Sputnik and TASS are reporting the figures from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the non-partisan body of the US Congress: the war waged by Washington against Iran has cost $38.1 billion as of August 1, with an additional monthly bill of $2 to $3 billion if hostilities continue. Sputnik highlights that "the largest expenditure was on ammunition": $21.7 billion to replace the armament already fired, including $13.1 billion in anti-missile interceptors used against Iranian ballistic missiles and drones. According to the CBO cited by Sputnik, the United States has depleted "between half and two-thirds" of their stock of interceptors since June 2025, a replenishment that would take "at least five years".

A previous tally, that of the Comptroller's office, had already estimated the cost of the operation at $33.4 billion as of June 29, with $22.3 billion for the ammunition spent and $3.7 billion in material losses, according to a Pentagon report consulted by Sputnik. TASS recalls that Washington and Israel opened hostilities on February 28, that a ceasefire memorandum signed in June -- including the Lebanese front -- was broken on the night of July 8, the United States accusing Tehran of violating the terms related to the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 25% of the world's oil trade and 20% of liquefied natural gas pass. The agency notes that the US administration has since prioritized the path of sanctions over the use of force.

London is scrutinizing less the bill quantified by the Congressional Budget Office than the public contradiction between the Pentagon and its own tenant of the White House. The British press first retains the report of the inspector general of the Department of Defense, which estimates the cost of "Operation Epic Fury" at $33.4 billion between February 28 and June 30, including $22.3 billion devoted to ammunition alone. The document, cited by the BBC, concludes that there are strategic shortages and industrial bottlenecks for replenishment, in a report that "contradicts President Donald Trump, who has repeated that the United States does not lack ammunition".

Because it is indeed there that the real issue is knotted, for the British press: Trump has qualified these warnings as "fake news" and assured that American stocks were "virtually unlimited", while the White House responded that the country had "more than enough" ammunition. The inspector general's report does not specify the remaining quantities, a grey area that the newspapers relay without filling it, while recalling that a July estimate by the Center for Strategic and International Studies evaluated the decline in Patriot and THAAD stocks at more than half.

The United States, September 16, 2026. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO), a non-partisan agency of Congress, released a report on Tuesday that fuels an already heated debate in the US: the war against Iran, opened on February 28 by Donald Trump, has cost $38.1 billion as of August 1, approximately $246 million per day, and could cost an additional $2 to $3 billion each month if operations continue. More than half of the amount, $21.7 billion, corresponds to the replacement of missiles and ammunition used; additional flight hours account for $10.4 billion and the increase in fuel prices for $2.7 billion. The report, requested by Democratic Representative Brendan Boyle, ranking member of the House Budget Committee, also estimates that two-thirds of the interceptors' stock has been consumed since June 2025, in part to defend Israel against Iranian fire. "Replenishing the stock of interceptors would likely take at least five years, even with increased production," the CBO warns.

These figures corroborate two previous counts: the $37.5 billion mentioned in July by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth before Congress, and the $33.4 billion calculated by the Pentagon's Inspector General for the period from February 28 to June 30, which already pointed to strategic stock shortages and industrial bottlenecks. The same Inspector General estimated the damage to US diplomatic facilities in four Gulf countries - Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the Emirates - at $184 million under Iranian strikes.

Caracas, September 16, 2026. In Caracas, the bill tallied by the US Congressional Budget Office (CBO) — $38.1 billion as of August 1, or about $246 million per day — is drawing less attention for its budgetary scope than for the name now associated with it: that of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, already targeted by a parliamentary procedure linking operations against Iran to the "capture" of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Republican Representative Thomas Massie has filed charges against Hegseth regarding his "actions in Iran" and the operation targeting Maduro, according to El Nacional. This initiative is part of a resolution filed in April by Democratic lawmakers, containing six articles of impeachment also focused on operations in Iran and other alleged irregularities attributed to the Department of Defense.

Meanwhile, a report by the Pentagon's inspector general, revealed by NBC News and then picked up by other media outlets, confirms a shortage of ammunition within the US armed forces — a reality that President Donald Trump and several officials had persistently denied, according to Últimas Noticias. The document estimates the cost of the war for the period from February 28 to June 30 at $33.4 billion and notes strategic inventory gaps and bottlenecks in the industrial base responsible for replenishing the most advanced ammunition.