Trump admin. touts its transparency. Yet few Iran war details have been shared.
The Trump administration is offering the public less information about the Iran war and its direction, even as the costs continue to mount.
August 2, 2026 / 12:15 PM EDT / CBS News
In his first month on the job, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth promised it "would be the most transparent administration ever," offering a sharp contrast with the previous wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that critics said had been shrouded in secrecy and misleading public statements.
More than 50,000 American troops remain deployed in the Middle East. Some 18 U.S. service members are dead, hundreds more are injured or wounded. Mr. Trump has launched several efforts at diplomacy with Iran, most recently this weekend. And Congress has been asked to approve another $67 billion to cover the costs of the campaign.
Yet Pentagon press briefings to reporters and the public have largely disappeared — the last one was in early May. Lawmakers in both parties say even they have struggled to obtain detailed briefings from an administration increasingly relying on statements from President Trump and social media posts to inform the public on the war.
Mr. Trump talks almost daily about the war in sweeping and optimistic terms, while granular details about troop movements, casualties and battle damage are rarely conveyed. On Friday at Camp David in Maryland, he said the Iranian Navy has been "obliterated," the Air Force has been "obliterated" and Iran has some missiles left, "but far fewer than they had four or five months ago." That's a version of the same assessment he has given since as far back as March.