Hegseth denies Iran war is “quagmire” as inflation balloons

Added: 2026-04-30

[00:00:00]60 days into America and Israel's war with Iran, the US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth faced congressional lawmakers for the first time, and Democrats were not happy. This war of choice is a political and economic disaster at every level. Despite the president's promise to lower the cost of living, gas prices are up 40%. The president has got himself and America stuck in the quagmire of another war in the Middle East. My generation served in a quagmire in Iraq and Afghanistan. Shame on you for that statement. And statements like that are reckless to our troops. Don't say I support the troops on one hand, and then a 2-month mission is a quagmire. The Pentagon comptroller told members of the House Armed Services Committee that Operation Epic Fury has cost taxpayers $25 billion so far.

[00:00:46]>> Most of that is in munitions. There's part of that that's obviously O&M and equipment replacement.

[00:00:50]>> war is costing individual Americans, too, with pump prices hitting their highest point since the start of the conflict. In parts of California Wednesday, drivers paid $6.09 for a gallon of gasoline. That's about 2.19 Canadian a liter. It's extremely stressful. I have spent probably like $200 probably in less than 10 days. As long as we have this oil price shock, it's going to have a very adverse effect on the economy. And even if it were to end tomorrow, there's going to be a long tail from this that will affect the economy for months, if not maybe even a year or more. But the war ending tomorrow, or even soon, seems unlikely.

[00:01:32]The president posting on Truth Social overnight an AI image of himself holding a weapon under the banner "No More Mr. Nice Guy", calling on Iran to get their act together and sign a non-nuclear deal. The US president also discussed the war with Iran with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call Wednesday, later telling reporters he believes the wars in Ukraine and Iran could end along a similar timeline.

[00:01:57]Jeff? Heather Yurko's West in Washington. Thanks, Heather.