As President Donald Trump edges closer to direct military action against Iran, Washington, D.C., residents are bracing for consequences that history suggests will fall heaviest on the nation’s capital.
Former Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz has made public appeals for U.S. support, declaring on CNN, “The United States, if it decides to act, will do it for its own interests and not our interests only.”
Sen. Ted Cruz added fuel to the fire when he suggested during a conversation with Tucker Carlson that the U.S. is already engaged in the conflict, prompting the host to respond, “You’re breaking news here.”
This week, Trump urged Iranian civilians to flee Tehran and suggested his administration may target the country’s Fordow nuclear site — a highly fortified facility buried deep within a mountain. Israel lacks the American GBU-57 bunker-busting bomb, and the B-2 stealth bomber needed to deliver it, leading Israeli leaders and war hawks in the U.S. to push for direct American strikes.
While the missiles and bombers may fly overseas, D.C. residents will likely feel the effects of war at home — as they have during every major American military campaign in modern history.
During Operation Desert Storm in 1991, military mobilization led to increased recruitment and an economic jolt in D.C. as defense-related jobs and activity surged. The same pattern emerged during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which stretched from the early 2000s through the 2010s.
A 2008 analysis estimated that military conflict in the Middle East reduced new housing construction across the U.S. by tens of thousands of units annually, contributing to housing supply shortages. D.C., with its high cost of living and limited affordable housing, experienced an even sharper squeeze as contractors and federal employees flooded the area.
By 2008, the average household in D.C. had paid more than $20,000 toward the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan through federal taxes, despite having no voting representation in Congress. That dynamic continues to rankle D.C. residents, who remain without a vote in the House or Senate even as the District contributes more in federal taxes per capita than any state.
The wars also redirected government spending, pushing up interest rates and inflating costs of living. With over $733 billion in additional base Pentagon spending between 2001 and 2016 attributed to war-related needs, communities like D.C. saw the federal government prioritize defense while local needs often went unmet.
Veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan added further strain to local health and housing systems, with more than $54 billion in long-term medical and disability commitments tallied by 2016.
The nation’s capital also became a center of anti-war activism during the Iraq War, with as many as 300,000 protesters converging on the National Mall in 2005 and again in 2008. Those demonstrations reflected the civic frustration of a population deeply impacted by decisions made without its consent.
“Washington, D.C., is more haunted than most places. … We neglect to consider why they haunt us in the first place,” Richard Allen Smith, a former Army sergeant who served five years on active duty, including a deployment to Afghanistan with the 82nd Airborne Division from February 2007 to April 2008, wrote in an earlier op-ed for Time.
As Trump now suggests military action against Iran, the District may again become a focal point for national resistance.
Beyond economics and civic outrage, D.C. residents also face unique psychological and security burdens.
Following the 9/11 attacks, the city experienced a constant stream of emergency drills, heightened surveillance, and a pervasive sense of anxiety.
A full-scale conflict with Iran — particularly one that may provoke cyberattacks or other retaliation — threatens to revive those conditions.
Meanwhile, Trump claimed that he’s seeking a “real end” to the explosive situation but also noted that “[Iran] knows not to touch our troops or… it would be gloves off.”
