The sad effects of Republican policies on this country’s fiscal well-being are too many to cover in one article. Only a few of the fires consuming taxpayer money are discussed here: the Iran war, tariffs, and three of Trump’s vanity projects. But these few are representative of the Trump party’s attitude. (Remember when the Republican party stood for fiscal responsibility?)
The Iran war’s cost to U.S. taxpayers is estimated to be $41B (billion) so far, and it goes up by about $95M (million) per day (https://militaryspend. org/us-iran-war). Aside from this direct drain on taxpayer dollars, we all pay indirect war costs out of our own pockets.
The most obvious example of indirect war costs is the $722 per household that Americans have paid for the $94B increase in gasoline and diesel prices since the beginning of the war, according to Brown University’s live energy cost tracker (https://iranwarcost. watson.brown.edu).
Higher diesel prices for trucks affect the price of almost everything on store shelves, including groceries, since almost all goods are transported by truck at some point in their journey from producer to seller. Also, oil is used to make plastics and petrochemicals that are found in seemingly everything, including cosmetics, shampoos, hair dyes, and disposable diapers (https://www.pbssocal.org/ shows/earth-focus/10-everyday- products-derived-frompetroleum).
War isn’t the only thing driving up costs. Tariffs cost the average household $1,745 in 2025 (https://www.jec. senate.gov/public/_cache/ files/7cc03e65-d40a-465f-9e88-09dd53d3502f/jec-factsheet- on-cost-of-tariffs-forfamilies- update.pdf). And it’s estimated that, in 2026, tariffs are on track to cost the average household $2,500 (https:// www.jec.senate.gov/public/ index.cfm/democrats/2026/3/ update-families-to-pay-2-500in-tariff-costs-this-year).
The Supreme Court has ruled that the U.S. must return $166B in collections of illegal tariffs. The refund will not be to consumers, but to the companies that pay the initial fees. So far, Amazon has received $600M; Apple got $2.2B; Walmart got 2.4B (www.cnn.com/2026/08/05/ economy/companies-got-tariff- refunds-wheres-your-cut).
The big retailers are passing their tariff expense on to consumers in the form of higher prices but are under no obligation to redistribute the refunds. Further, we have no idea what mark-up companies have used, or how many companies used tariffs simply as an excuse to raise prices.
Tariff refunds will go almost exclusively to American companies. No foreign countries paid any amount of the imposed tariffs, even though Trump insisted that this is how it would work. He stood by this obviously untrue claim, even long after tariffs were imposed in April 2025 (https://www.usatoday.com/ story/money/2026/02/15/ americans-paid-trump-tariffs-2025-inflation/88692687007).
Working families also suffer indirect losses from tariffs. Trump claimed the tariffs would bring manufacturing back to the States, but his policies have sadly achieved the opposite.
As of February 2026, manufacturing jobs were down 100,000 since Trump took office, and the unemployment rate for U.S.-born workers was up (www.jec.senate. gov/public/index.cfm/ democrats/2026/2/new-dataduring- trump-s-first-yearthe- manufacturing-industry- lost-108-000-jobs).
The President’s vanity projects are starting their own bonfires of taxpayer money.
Trump originally said his ballroom would cost $200M and be paid for by private doners; now the estimated cost is $600M-$900M and taxpayers are back on the hook.
In May the Congress proposed $1B in federal funding for extra ballroom security (www.factcheck.org/2026/05/ whos-paying-for-the-whitehouse- ballroom). The $1B bill is caught up in a debate between the House and the Senate. This may not be decided until the new fiscal year begins October 1, 2026.
On August 7, 2026, a federal appeals court ruled that Trump cannot continue building the ballroom without approval from Congress. He appealed to the Supreme Court, and that Trump-friendly body has ruled that he can continue building, at least for now (https://www.yahoo.com/ news/politics/articles/supreme court-allows-trumpsballroom- 200019411.html).
The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in D.C. may not be the biggest waste of taxpayer money, but it is certainly telling. Trump’s original estimate to redecorate the reflecting pond in D.C. was $1.5M. The cost now stands at $16M and climbing (www.thepricer.org/ how-much-did-the-reflectingpool- renovation-cost/.) The project has been a disaster from the beginning, and the pool is worse off now.
Trump is pushing his plans for a triumphal arch despite the outcry against it.
In February 2026, veterans sued the federal government to block construction of the 250-foot triumphal arch in Memorial Circle outside Arlington National Cemetery, citing a complete lack of approval from Congress (https://www.politico. com/news/2026/02/19/ trump-arlington-arch-lawsuit- 00789763).
Veterans also argue, and rightly so, that an arch will disrupt thesymbolismof theview between the cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial. The view itself is a beautifully designed D.C. landmark (https://www. npr.org/2026/06/10/nx-s15851587/trump-arch-veteransarlington- national-cemetery).
We, the people, cannot afford Trump. His tariff policy is delusional, especially given that tariffs have a long history of making things worse. As for the disastrous war he has taken us into, Trump decided on his own to go to war with Iran, even after advisors warned that Iran would close the Strait of Hormuz. As for Trump’s vanity constructions, he should pay for those out of the billions he illegally gains from such practices as selling his cryptocurrency or selling access to ‘inside’ information that causes stock-market gains or losses.
He is on a course to drive the U.S. into bankruptcy.
The national debt has now gone above $40T—that’s TRILLION— and it now costs us more just to pay the interest on the national debt than we pay for defense (https://www. usdebtclock.org/).
Excluding the war profiteers, people throughout the world have suffered from this mess and American taxpayers are paying for it. In fact, our great grandchildren will still be paying for it.