Pete Hegseth denies Iran war is a ‘quagmire’ as cost to US hits estimated $25bn
Appearing before the House armed services committee alongside Gen Dan Caine, chair of the joint chiefs of staff, the US defense secretary asked lawmakers to approve a $1.5tn budget in military spending – and then described some of them as “the biggest challenge” to the war effort.
Tensions soared when the California Democrat John Garamendi was given the floor, and hammered Hegseth over the “astounding incompetence” which he argued had led to “political and economic disaster at every level”.
“The president has gotten himself and America stuck in a quagmire of another war in the Middle East,” Garamendi said. “He is desperately trying to extricate himself from his own mistakes; it is in America’s, and indeed the world’s, interest he succeed in that.”
Hegseth was incensed by the statement, particularly around the invocation of another quagmire in the Middle East, and attacked the congressman for his speech.
“Who are you cheering for here? Who are you pulling for?” Hegseth shot back. “Your hatred for President Trump blinds you to the truth of the success of this mission and the historic stakes that the president is addressing that the American people support.
“You call it a quagmire, handing propaganda to our enemies? Shame on you for that statement,” Hegseth added.
Trump has “stared [Iran] down” and will now “get a better deal than anyone ever has and ensure Iran never has a nuclear weapon”, Hegseth claimed.
When committee chair Mike Rogers, a Republican, opened proceedings, he signaled that he was already onboard with the budget proposal from the administration. “All of our adversaries are spending more of their GDP on defense than we are,” Rogers said, calling the $1.5tn figure one that “accounts for the true cost of American deterrence”. Hegseth added that the budget included what he called “a historic troop pay increase – 7% for lower enlisted”.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/29/pete-hegseth-denies-iran-war-is-a-quagmire-as-estimated-us-cost-so-far-hits-25bn
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