The Trump Administration's Misaligned Priorities

Marc H. Morial 
President and CEO
National Urban League

 
"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed." - President Dwight D. Eisenhower
 
$100 billion.
 
That is the cost to date of the war in Iran on American households since it began on February 28th of this year, according to Moody’s.
 
$25 billion.
 
The U.S. tax dollars spent to fund the conflict that has grown to now include Lebanon and a complete closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the vital water way that is responsible for 20% of the world’s oil supply.
 
$125 billion. In four months. Let that figure sink in.
 
Next, let’s compare that to federal policies that would improve the lives of person in this country.
 
 
Healthcare for All
 
$450 billion per year
 
Sounds like a lot?
 
Compare it to the $25 billion spent on this war in four months, the $70 billion in additional funding being pushed on us for funding immigration enforcement, and the $1.6 billion slush fund for January 6 rioters that is currently on the table.
 
If that doesn’t upset you, do you remember the tariffs? Congress found that we, consumers and American households, bore roughly 86%–96% of the tariff costs, totaling over $231 billion in costs between February 2025 and January 2026.
 
Combine that all with the cost we’ve incurred from this war, we’ve spent over $350 billion and the only thing we’ve seen in return is a struggling job market, political division, and increased energy uncertainty.
 
 
Universal Pre-K
 
$351 billion over a 10-year period, according to research from the University of Pennsylvania.
 
Today parents pay upwards of $15,000 a year  to have a place for their children to learn in a safe environment while they work.
 
Just so you’re clear, that’s $35 billion per year. In four months, we’ve spent $25 billion in four months on a war with no end in sight.
Free College
 
$58 billion per year
 
Is the cost of the government were to pay for the full cost of tuition before grant aid is applied.
 
Again, we’ve spent nearly half of that in Iran and nearly 4x that on tariffs in the last year.
 
Student Loan Forgiveness
 
$355.2 billion ($10,000 per borrower)
 
As a reminder, our households spent a collective $231 billion on tariffs in the last year alone.
 
Ending Homelessness
 
$20 billion to $30 billion in initial upfront investment, followed by an estimated $10 billion to $15 billion annually to sustain housing, services, and prevention programs.
 
We’ve spent that on the war in Iran in four months.
 
These are real figures from real analysis based on real costs. And the spending is real. The next time you hear the government say it can’t afford to improve the lives for every day people, remember it’s not that the funds aren’t being spent, our priorities are misaligned.

 
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