Donald Trump told a rally in Grand Island, Nebraska, on Monday that the war with Iran is "a very small price to pay" and "gonna be over very soon." Congress's own researchers put a different number on it the same day.
The Congressional Research Service counted 81 American aircraft lost or damaged since the war began on Feb. 28, in an update dated Oct. 5. In May the count was 42. The same researchers carried the Congressional Budget Office's September estimate for replacing the equipment lost through Aug. 1: between $1.9 billion and $3.3 billion, depending on what the Pentagon buys to replace it.
Bond traders read the same documents. The 30-year Treasury yield hit 5.70% on Wednesday, its highest since 2002, and the 10-year reached 5.32%. Investors lending the government money for 30 years now charge more for it than at any point in 24 years.
So which number is Trump's "very soon" measured against, the one he gave the rally or the ones on the Treasury's screens?
