Trump plans to fund Iran War but not Medicaid, child care assistance

Nevada Democrats slam the president’s remarks as his administration seeks more than a trillion dollars for another Middle East war.

Nearly 800,000 Nevadans who rely on Medicaid face new uncertainty after President Donald Trump said the federal government could no longer fund the program, suggesting that states should take on the responsibility. 

Trump made the remarks at a private Easter celebration on Wednesday, where he said it is “not possible” for the federal government to fund Medicaid, Medicare and child care subsidies, NBC News reported.

As of January, 786,672 Nevadans rely on Medicaid, while another 612,400 Nevadans were Medicare patients as of last fall, and 47,880 families received federal child care assistance, according to a 2025 data report. 

The comment comes as Trump seeks $1.5 trillion in new military funding, money Democrats argue comes at the expense of “working families” already grappling with an affordability crisis. 

Democratic Rep. Susie Lee (D-Nevada) criticized the proposal, saying Nevadans should not have pay for a war while struggling to afford health care and daycare.

“The American people don’t want another forever war,” Lee wrote in a statement. “They certainly don’t want their hard-earned money paying for it at the same time the President is claiming it’s not possible to pay for child care and health care for seniors and Americans with disabilities.”

US Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nevada) added that funding priorities should go toward extending Affordable Care Act subsidies.

“Two hundred billion dollars could extend the ACA enhanced premium tax credits that Republicans slashed for more than five years,” Cortez Masto wrote in an email. 

Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nevada) added that the Trump administration’s financial priorities conflict with what Americans need.

“They’re spending billions a day on a war of choice,” Horsford said. “That’s not putting America first and it’s not what the American people deserve.”