The Trump administration spent more than $20 million transporting illegal migrants to Guantanamo Bay on military aircraft in less than three months, NBC News reported Monday.
The naval base located in Cuba currently holds 32 migrants, and it has never held more than 200 at any one time, according to NBC News.
However, the Defense Department is preparing for an increase in capacity, the outlet added. U.S. Transportation Command recently added an additional weekly flight to Guantanamo.
NBC News added that the administration spent at least $21 million flying migrants to Guantanamo between Inauguration Day on Jan. 20 and April 8. The average cost per flight hour for the military aircraft has been $26,277.
Between Jan. 20 and March 25, the Pentagon conducted 31 military and contract airlift flights to Guantanamo, transporting 715 passengers and 1,016.9 tons of cargo.
The figures were provided to Congress by the U.S. military.
Newsmax reached out to the White House for comment on the report.
Among the first executive orders signed by President Donald Trump upon taking office was one instructing the Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security to expand the migrant operations center at Guantanamo Bay to full capacity.
At the time, Trump said the facility would be prepared to hold 30,000 people, and it would be used to "detain the worst criminal illegal aliens threatening the American people."
The first U.S. military flight to deport illegal migrants from the U.S. to Guantanamo Bay departed Feb. 4.
In early March, NBC News reported major legal, logistical and financial problems have caused the administration to reconsider Trump's plan to use the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay.
Democrats criticized the use of U.S. military assets and personnel for transporting migrants to Guantanamo.
"Every American should be outraged by Donald Trump wasting military resources to pay for his political stunts that do not make us safer," said Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, NBC News reported.
"U.S. service members did not sign up for this abuse of power."
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.