During an April 29 House Armed Services Committee hearing, acting Pentagon Comptroller Jules Hurst estimated that the Iran war has cost about $25 billion so far, offering the first public price tag on the war to date. 

Outside analysts and budget experts quickly clarified, however, that the $25 billion number likely underestimates the costs by excluding extensive repairs for U.S. bases in the region that have been damaged in the fighting. (Hurst's estimate during the hearing came after the Trump administration submitted a proposed budget to Congress featuring a 44% jump in defense spending, up to nearly $1.5 trillion for 2027, while simultaneously suggesting cuts to domestic programs.)

From April 29 through May 3, Fox News and Fox Business devoted less than 8 minutes of combined coverage to the Iran war cost estimate, with the subject receiving only about 4 minutes of coverage on each network according to a Media Matters review. In total across both networks, the estimated $25 billion price for Trump’s war with Iran was apparently worth only 4 segments and 8 additional brief mentions, with coverage limited to April 29 and April 30 before disappearing entirely.

When the networks did bother to cover the estimated $25 billion war cost, guests and personalities justified the price tag as a necessary expense for national security rather than as a figure worth serious scrutiny, even fearmongering about Iran striking the United States with a nuclear bomb to justify the cost. As Fox host Todd Piro stated, “If we are dead because Iran strikes us with a nuke, all these economic discussions are moot.”

Media Matters searched transcripts in the SnapStream video database for all original programming on Fox Business Network and Fox News Channel for any of the terms “Iran,” “war,” “excursion,” “operation,” or “Epic Fury” within close proximity of any of the terms “cost,” “price,” “budget,” “request,” “Pentagon,” “defense,” “DOD,” “25,” or “twenty five” or any variation of the term “spend” from April 29, when acting Pentagon Comptroller Jules Hurst III estimated in a House Armed Services Committee hearing that the Iran war has cost about $25 billion, through May 3, 2026.

We timed segments, which we defined as instances when Hurst's April 29 estimate that the Iran war cost about $25 billion was the stated topic of discussion or when we found significant discussion of the estimate. We defined significant discussion as instances when two or more speakers in a multitopic segment discussed the estimate with one another.

We also timed mentions, which we defined as instances when a single speaker in a segment on another topic mentioned the estimate without another speaker engaging with the comment, and teasers, which we defined as instances when the anchor or host promoted a segment about the estimate scheduled to air later in the broadcast.

We rounded all times to the nearest minute.