Trump says Israel and Gulf allies should repay US war costs after Iran conflict

United States President Donald Trump has said Washington will seek compensation from countries he says it protected during the war on Iran. In comments aired in an interview with CBS News correspondent Ross Douthat, Trump said those countries would pay back "any and all costs" the United States incurred in the conflict. He said the US would get "all that money back" and added that the countries involved would do so "100 percent".

Trump explicitly named Israel for the first time in this context, saying it would not exist without US military intervention. He also repeated earlier remarks that Gulf states benefiting from the US military presence around the Strait of Hormuz should reimburse Washington for protection. In July, he had named Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait as countries that should pay, arguing that the United States was spending money to protect a wealthy part of the world.

The remarks come after Trump and his Republican Party suffered losses in midterm elections, which he has partly linked to public dissatisfaction over the Iran war. He has since said the war is "effectively over" militarily, while defending his decision to start it as "a very good decision". The comments also sharpen a dispute over who should bear the financial burden of the conflict and the wider US military role in the region.

The issue matters because it touches on the future of US alliances in the Middle East and the political cost of military intervention. Israel was a direct participant in the war from the outset, while Gulf countries have said they were not informed in advance about Washington's plans. Those states have also faced the impact of Iran's retaliatory attacks and have called for a diplomatic resolution through the Gulf Cooperation Council.

Trump's comments also fit a broader pattern of his approach to security partnerships, in which he has repeatedly framed US military protection as a service that should be paid for. That position has long been controversial because it challenges the traditional view of alliance commitments as strategic rather than transactional. In this case, the demand extends beyond Gulf partners to Israel, making the statement more significant than earlier remarks focused only on regional states near the Strait of Hormuz.

The financial scale of the war is also part of the debate. The supporting report says US military costs had reached $47.1bn by mid-October, although the full total is likely higher because that figure excludes some expenses. Trump has not set out a formal mechanism for repayment, and it is not clear whether the demand reflects an actual policy plan or a political message aimed at domestic audiences and foreign partners alike.

What remains unclear is whether the White House will turn the demand into a concrete diplomatic or budgetary proposal, and how allies would respond if it did. It is also not clear whether the comments will affect ongoing coordination with Israel or Gulf governments on security and shipping in the region. For now, the statement adds a new layer of uncertainty to US relations with partners that were involved in, or affected by, the Iran conflict.

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