Trump w/ Fox News logo over outline of Iran

Andrea Austria / Media Matters

Research/Study Research/Study

Fox News has effusively praised Trump's strikes on Iran

Network figures have recommended Trump receive a Nobel Prize and called the attacks “a watershed moment for world peace”

Written by Noah Dowe & Chloe Simon

Published

On June 21, President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. military launched a series of strikes directed at three of Iran’s nuclear facilities. Although some right-wing media have been divided over escalation with Iran, Fox News personalities and guests have been mostly uniform in their support of U.S. military intervention — and according to The New York Times, Fox News’ own reporting influenced Trump’s decision to launch strikes.  

After the U.S. airstrikes, Fox News was quick to praise Trump and his decision to launch the attack — calling him “a historic figure,” suggesting the strikes were “a watershed moment for peace,” and claiming the bomber crews “potentially saved the world by doing this.” And after Trump announced a ceasefire between Iran and Israel, Fox hosts and guests said Trump should be given a Nobel Peace Prize and have his face carved on Mount Rushmore. But according to the early U.S. intelligence assessments, the strikes did not destroy Iran's nuclear program and likely set it back by mere months.

  • Trump announced on Saturday that U.S. forces bombed Iranian nuclear sites

    • Over the weekend, the U.S. forces carried out coordinated strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites, which Trump described as spectacular. Despite Trump claiming on June 19 that he needed “two weeks” to decide on a course of action with Iran, his administration launched strikes the following day. Trump described the operation as “spectacular” and claimed it severely degraded Iran’s nuclear capabilities. But according to CNN, the early U.S. intelligence assessments are that the strikes “did not destroy the core components of the country’s nuclear program and likely only set it back by months.” [CBS News, 6/22/25; The Washington Post, 6/23/25; Axios, 6/23/25; CNN, 6/24/25] 
    • Some right-wing figures like Tucker Carlson spent last week accusing Fox News of being “warmongers” for the network’s vocal support of U.S. military action against Iran. War Room host Steve Bannon alleged Fox News personalities were pushing for the U.S. military “to go on offense,” while white nationalist streamer Nick Fuentes suggested Fox host Greg Gutfeld has “amnesia” for arguing “we need to forget” the legacy of Middle East wars. [Media Matters, 6/18/25] 
    • The New York Times reported last week that after Trump saw Fox News’ “wall-to-wall imagery of what it was portraying as Israel’s military genius,” he privately “told some confidants that he was now leaning toward a more serious escalation.” Fox News host Mark Levin had claimed that “force … is the only thing to stop” Iran, while Fox News contributor Guy Benson said deploying a bunker-buster bomb to end Iran's nuclear program “doesn't seem like a bad idea to me.” According to the Times, Trump “could not resist claiming some credit for himself” and “told some confidants that he was now leaning toward a more serious escalation.” [The New York Times, 6/17/25; Media Matters, 6/18/25]
    • On his Truth Social platform, Trump announced on June 23 that Israel and Iran had agreed to a ceasefire, calling it “complete and total.” However, both sides reportedly violated the terms of the ceasefire within hours of Trump’s social media post, with Iran launching missiles into Israel and Israel striking an Iranian radar site in Tehran. [The Guardian, 6/24/25; Reuters, 6/24/25] 

  • Fox News and Fox Business figures claimed the “historic air campaign” Trump ordered against Iran “potentially saved the world”

    • Fox host Sean Hannity claimed the “historic air campaign” made the world “a much safer place.” [Fox News, 6/21/25] 
    • Fox & Friends Weekend co-host Johnny “Joey” Jones called the strikes “a watershed moment for world peace.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends Weekend, 6/22/25]
    • Fox contributor and former Trump Secretary of State Mike Pompeo argued the attack was “important … to keep the United States of America safe” and said “the world is safer today” as a result. He also called the mission “righteous and decent and important,” arguing it “will keep us all safer.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends Weekend, 6/22/25] 
    • Fox & Friends co-host Ainsley Earhardt claimed that American bomber pilots who attacked Iran “are heroes. They potentially saved the world by doing this.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 6/23/25] 
    • Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo claimed it is a “fact” that Iran was “a week away from having nine nuclear bombs.” Guest and Gatestone Institute senior fellow Gordon Chang added that “China made sure that Iran had everything it needed to build a nuclear device. They sent it directly to Iran.” (NBC News reported last week: “The U.S. assessment of Iran’s nuclear program has not changed since March, when the director of national intelligence told lawmakers that Tehran has large amounts of enriched uranium but has not made a decision to rush toward building an atomic bomb, according to the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee and a source with knowledge of the matter.”) [Fox Business, Mornings with Maria Bartiromo, 6/23/25; NBC News, 6/18/25] 

  • Many on Fox praised Trump for the strikes, calling him a “decisive” and “historic figure” who made the region “better for everybody”

    • Sean Hannity said the attacks prove Trump “will always put America and Americans’ interests first” and suggested “this will go down in history as one of the greatest military victories.” [Fox News, 6/21/25]
    • Fox host Mark Levin called Trump a “historic figure” and compared the strikes on Iran to “Reagan and Thatcher defeating the Soviet Union.” Levin also told the audience they could “go to bed peacefully tonight” because of the attacks Trump ordered. [Fox News, 6/21/25] 
    • Fox & Friends co-host Lawrence Jones called the strikes “a win for the president” and declared that they send “a message to the radical Islamic terror that plagues the world right now that your days are numbered.” Jones also said that “it’s clear that we’re a blessed nation” because the Trump administration “met the moment — the enemy didn’t even know that they were there.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends Weekend, 6/22/25]
    • Appearing on Fox, former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Trump “has shown leadership” and argued “the world is safer today thanks to the decision made by the American president.” Gallant said the attacks were “bold and courageous decisions” by Trump. [Fox News, One Nation with Brian Kilmeade, 6/22/25; International Criminal Court, 6/23/25] 
    • Fox News contributor and retired Army Gen. Jack Keane said the attacks show the U.S. “exercising global leadership quite responsibly” to stop “a barbaric, diabolical state that wants to acquire nuclear weapons.” “This regime for 45 years has only been confronted twice,” he continued, adding, “Trump was the second one to take them on … and now he’s taken a significant strike.” The next day, Keane claimed, “We're in such a better place as a result of the attack than what we were before.” [Fox News, One Nation with Brian Kilmeade, 6/22/25; Fox News, Fox & Friends, 6/23/25] 
    • Fox host and former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany praised Trump as “decisive” and “also very clever” for his “deception campaign” against Iran. She continued, “He is very good at subterfuge, which was the cornerstone of this mission, and he’s very good at action.” [Fox News, America’s Newsroom, 6/23/25] 
    • Fox anchor Harris Faulkner remarked that she wondered “who has made the phone call of ‘thank you’ to the president, in that region,” because the strikes made it “better for everybody.” [Fox News, The Faulkner Focus, 6/23/25]
    • After the ceasefire was announced, Hannity guest and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said that Trump deserves a Nobel Peace Prize for striking Iran and negotiating a “peace agreement,” adding, “If this is not worthy, nothing is.” [Fox News, Hannity, 6/23/25] 
    • On Jesse Watters Primetime, Fox guest and Medal of Honor recipient David Bellavia suggested that Trump deserved to be added to Mount Rushmore for ordering strikes against Iran, remarking that “maybe it’s time to carve [Theodore] Roosevelt off Rushmore and make a big granite hat, because this is one of the most impressive things we’ve seen in 50 years.” [Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, 6/23/25] 
    • Discussing the U.S. attacks on Iran, Fox News host Laura Ingraham claimed Trump “deserves six Nobel Peace Prizes.” She also called the strikes “a very bold and risky move,” saying “because he did that, he’s right, he saved lives. He saved a lot of lives. And Lord knows what would have happened.” [Fox News, The Ingraham Angle, 6/23/25] 
    • The Five co-host Jesse Watters described the strike as “righteous” and claimed Trump “gave peace a chance, but the ayatollah gave him the middle finger, figuratively … so this was the last resort.” He also claimed that “so far, oil prices are down. The market was up. It’s contained at this point, so well done.” [Fox News, The Five, 6/23/25]