Trump’s southern border military mission cost over $300 million in first 6 weeks

The Trump administration’s major military mission at the southern border focused on reducing immigration and drug flows has already cost taxpayers more than $300 million, according to sources briefed on data from the Defense Department comptroller — even as the administration has vowed to slash the size of government and cut 8 percent from the department’s budget.

The Trump administration’s major military mission at the southern border focused on reducing immigration and drug flows has already cost taxpayers more than $300 million, according to sources briefed on data from the Defense Department comptroller — even as the administration has vowed to slash the size of government and cut 8 percent from the department’s budget. In just the first month, the Pentagon spent roughly $250 million dollars, a source briefed on the cost and two other people familiar with the matter told CNN, including deportation flights on US military aircraft, the deployment of thousands of additional troops and the expansion of detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay. As of March 12, it had spent $328 million. The DoD Comptroller briefed lawmakers on the costs earlier this month, the sources all said. “We saw that and we were like woah – that’s high,” a defense official said. If spending continues at the same pace — and it seems poised to do with the addition of two warships to the region and administration officials vowing to expand operations — it would put the military on track to spend more than $2 billion in the first year of operations. “They’re drunk on [Overseas Contingency Operations] money,” another official said, referring to funding set aside for military operations that isn’t part of the base budget.