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As the Pentagon keeps releasing video of bombs destroying parts of Iran, the smoke can't obscure an increasingly urgent question here at home:

How high a price are Americans willing to pay for this war?

I don't mean in terms of casualties, as the seven Americans killed so far is a relatively low figure, although each fallen soldier is a tragedy. Each should be honored for their sacrifice, as the first half dozen were in a Delaware ceremony attended by President Donald Trump and other dignitaries. 

It's that the financial turmoil is really taking a toll on the homeland, not to mention around the world. Markets are tanking. Oil prices are soaring. Jobs are declining. And this has fueled doubts about Trump's decision to wage relentless attacks against Iran – and offering a series of shifting explanations as to why the war is necessary, and why it needed to be launched now. 

WHY TRUMP INVOKED REGIME CHANGE IN ATTACKING IRAN, AND THE MEDIA MUST LEARN FROM PAST MISTAKES

All major wars involve sacrifice. But since the president never made a prime-time speech to support his decision, many Americans have the sense that they woke up one morning and were at war with Iran. 

Was the goal here to prevent Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons? Or, having wiped out Ayatollah Ali Khameini and other top leaders, was it regime change? Pete Hegseth said the aim wasn’t to topple the regime, but that was contradicted by Trump saying he had to approve the new leader and rejecting the anointment of the ayatollah’s son. If that isn’t George W. Bush-style regime change, what is?

At the outset, the Dow was plunging, the 401ks were shrinking, and gas prices were surging.

In military terms, the U.S.-Israeli attacks on the world's leading sponsor of terrorism have been a remarkable success, at least so far. But how long will this 24/7 bombardment continue? 

HEGSETH ONCE WARNED AGAINST ENDLESS WARS. NOW HE’S LEADING TRUMP’S STRIKE-FIRST DOCTRINE

Hegseth told "60 Minutes" that he and Trump are "willing to go as far as we need to go" overturn Iran’s dictatorial regime, including sending troops if necessary. The War secretary understandably said he wouldn't tell the enemy whether the military assault would last four to six weeks or longer.

"Short term oil prices, which will drop rapidly when the destruction of the Iran nuclear threat is over, is a very small price to pay for U.S.A., and World, Safety and Peace," the president posted. "ONLY FOOLS WOULD THINK DIFFERENTLY!"

The president told CBS yesterday, "the war is very complete, pretty much." That’s a significant shift.

Hegseth argues the media are playing up American casualties to make Trump look bad. Sorry, but there’s a reason many people find this offensive. Journalists cover American military casualties in every administration, and it’s not aimed at any particular president. It’s to honor our war dead. Most of the press is hardly pro-Trump, but these deaths would be major news no matter who was commander-in-chief. 

Meanwhile, other Arab nations, under attack by Iran, have slashed oil productions because of that and risky conditions at the Strait of Hormuz, a major choke point for energy shipments.

At the same time, history shows that some political opponents try to exploit American combat deaths, as many Democrats are doing here by refusing to call Iran a terrorist state. When 13 Americans died in an attack at Kabul airport during a chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, Republicans blamed Joe Biden throughout his term. When four Americans died in Benghazi, Hillary Clinton, the Secretary of State, was hammered for years.   

Russia's role has also been polarizing. The Washington Post, citing a classified report, said the Kremlin is aiding Iran in targeting U. S. forces – in blunt terms, helping to kill Americans.

When reporters raised this with Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, she said "whether or not this happened, frankly, it does not really matter."

The backlash was instantaneous.

WHITE HOUSE SAYS OIL PRICE SPIKE IS TEMPORARY AS TRUMP PUSHES ENERGY DOMINANCE AMID IRAN WAR

There is, at the moment, a growing sense of international uncertainty that has everyone off balance. 

I watched for years as LBJ and Richard Nixon bombarded the Viet Cong in what was largely a jungle war, and the guerrillas refused to surrender, betting on outlasting the United States. Ultimately, South Vietnam collapsed and was overrun. The war was all the more pointless because it was fought against the "domino theory" that these small countries would fall in a Communist triumph. 

Donald Trump ran as the America First candidate who would keep the country out of foreign wars. He said it was Kamala Harris who would lead the nation into World War III. 

The former VP now accuses Trump of "dragging the United States into a war the American people don’t want."

And the Iran combat, of course, follows another regime change, with Trump ordering the kidnapping of Nicolás Maduro and declaring himself the leader of oil-rich Venezuela. 

The furor over Iran has exacerbated a deep and nasty split in the conservative media, with some of its members abruptly changing their rhetoric about foreign wars and others saying the president has betrayed his MAGA base. 

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A month from now, six months from now, the decision to wage war against Iran may be seen as a brilliant tactical move or the start of an Iraq-style quagmire. Will Trump be able to say he shut down the mullahs’ nuclear program?

But if there's one thing that might persuade the president to declare victory and wind things down, it's the growing economic pain that this war has inflicted on average Americans. 

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Public Housing and Section 8 rental assistance in America were created to provide a temporary helping hand to families during times of hardship, not to trap them in long-term dependency. Yet almost half of non-elderly, able-bodied households getting support from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) didn’t have a single person working in 2024. It’s time for a change.

We got here because well-intentioned federal policies drifted away from their original purpose, leaving many people stuck in subsidized housing for years, sometimes decades, while millions of families sit on waiting lists with no help at all.

HUD’s proposed rule aims to correct that drift by restoring a simple, commonsense principle: HUD housing assistance should encourage work, self-sufficiency, and upward mobility while keeping a strong safety net for the elderly and disabled. Under the Trump administration’s proposed regulation, no longer would able-bodied, able-minded individuals be allowed to waste away on welfare with no hope or dignity.

THE BORDER GETS THE ATTENTION WHILE FRAUDULENT GOVERNMENT BENEFITS BLEED TAXPAYERS DRY

Arkansas became the first state in the nation to bring work requirements to the forefront in state law after I, Governor Sanders, signed the Housing Welfare Reform Act of 2023 into law. This commonsense law ensures that an individual who is able to work is required to work, train, or volunteer if they’re living on the taxpayers’ dime. Public housing authorities, however, have not been permitted to require work or limit time under current rules. Without HUD’s proposed rule, Arkansas is unable to enforce the law on the books.

Public housing was never meant to be a hammock, but a springboard to a life of self-sufficiency. Federal housing assistance, as currently structured, disincentivizes work and leads to a long national waitlist for housing assistance for those who need a hand up.

Capable adults receiving assistance are staying longer and longer on welfare. Recent evidence presented to Congress shows that nearly 90 percent of able-bodied Section 8 voucher recipients will spend more than five years in subsidized housing, and half will spend more than fifteen years. It is not uncommon for multiple generations of a family to live in subsidized housing over decades. We must break this hopeless cycle.

There is extensive real-world evidence supporting work requirements and/or time limits on public housing benefits. Across the country, nearly forty Moving to Work housing agencies have tested work requirements or time limits, showing America that these programs can change lives.

WASHINGTON POST CALLS FOR STRICTER SNAP QUALIFICATIONS, WIDESPREAD FRAUD CRACKDOWN AFTER MINNESOTA SCANDAL

This proposal would finally allow Arkansas to empower all public housing agencies and Section 8 residents in the state to move towards self-sufficiency, as the law intends.

Arkansas will set the example for more states to follow because the Trump administration is empowering state and local leaders who best understand their residents and communities to decide whether and how to implement these policies, within clear regulatory bounds. No longer will there be a one-size-fits-all mandate from Washington.

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HUD estimates that under our proposal, between 19,000 and 79,000 families nationally will move out of subsidized housing in the first year, opening doors for new families in need. This is a win-win situation. The families leaving assistance will earn more, contribute more to their own rent, and stand on firmer financial ground, while the families finally getting assistance will receive the help they’ve been waiting on for years.

Most importantly, this is about dignity. Work is a pathway to meaning, independence, and stability. Study after study shows that prolonged unemployment erodes well-being, worsens health, decreases life expectancy and harms children’s prospects. By contrast, when adults work, families are healthier, communities are stronger, and futures are brighter. A rising tide lifts all boats

We believe in the potential of our fellow Americans. By restoring federal rental assistance to its intended role as temporary support, we can help more American families build brighter lives and better futures.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders is the 47th governor of Arkansas.

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The Pentagon on Sunday announced that U.S. forces have carried out a lethal strike on a vessel allegedly carrying suspected narco-traffickers in the Eastern Pacific, killing six people on board.

The U.S. Southern Command said it conducted "a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations" at the direction of the new leader of the Southern Command, Gen. Francis L. Donovan of the Marine Corps, who took over in January.

"Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations," the Southern Command said in a press release.

NEW LAWSUIT PRESSES PENTAGON, STATE DEPT TO DISCLOSE LEGAL JUSTIFICATION FOR VENEZUELAN BOAT STRIKES

Six men on the ship were killed but no U.S. forces died in the attack on the vessel, according to the Southern Command.

The latest strike brings the death toll in the Trump administration's attacks on ships carrying people it accuses of drug smuggling to at least 156, according to The New York Times.

This was the 45th strike since the U.S. began targeting boats in the Caribbean and the Eastern Pacific in early September and comes amid a recent increase in the pace of strikes, the newspaper reported.

BIPARTISAN PUSH GROWS IN SENATE TO FORCE RELEASE OF UNEDITED CARIBBEAN STRIKE FOOTAGE

The attack on Sunday was one of the deadliest boat strikes the military has conducted in recent weeks.

"Going on offense with Operation Southern Spear has restored deterrence against the narco-terrorist cartels that profited from poisoning Americans," Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said last week. "Last month, we went a few weeks without targeting a single boat. Why? Well, because we couldn't find a whole lot of boats to sink, and that's the whole point is to establish deterrence from narco-terrorists who have been able to traffic almost unfettered."

The Pentagon has refused to release the identities of those killed in the strikes since last fall or provide evidence of drugs on board.

The administration has been scrutinized in recent months over the strikes, including by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who has raised concerns about killing people without due process and the possibility of killing innocent people.

"I look at my colleagues who say they’re pro-life, and they value God's inspiration in life, but they don't give a s‑‑- about these people in the boats," Paul said in January. "Are they terrible people in the boats? I don't know. They're probably poor people in Venezuela and Colombia."

The senator previously cited Coast Guard statistics that show a significant percentage of boats boarded on suspicion of drug trafficking are innocent.

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King Charles III will reflect on "the increasing pressures of conflict" across the world in a "time of great challenge" during a speech planned for Monday, according to multiple reports. 

"We join together on this Commonwealth Day at a time of great challenge and great possibility," a preview of the 77-year-old’s Commonwealth Day speech says.

The king's speech continued: "Across our world, communities and nations face the increasing pressures of conflict, climate change and rapid transformation. Yet it is often in such testing moments that the enduring spirit of the Commonwealth is most clearly revealed."

The speech will come a little more than a week after the U.S. and Israel launched coordinated strikes against Iran, which British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the United Kingdom didn’t take part in for the sake of their national interest.

"This is not Winston Churchill we are dealing with," President Donald Trump said earlier this week in a criticism of Starmer amid a perceived lack of support for the U.S. and Israel’s joint military operation against Iran.

UK DEPLOYING WARSHIP, HELICOPTERS TO CYPRUS AFTER DRONE STRIKE

"By the way, I’m not happy with the U.K. either," the president said, referring to Starmer blocking the United States’ use of U.K. bases to launch attacks on Iran.

Britain has since allowed the U.S. to use its bases in the region for defensive purposes against Iran’s retaliatory strikes. It has also mobilized fighter jets and plans to send a destroyer and possibly an aircraft carrier. 

The president referenced the Chagos Islands Tuesday, which are British territories in the Indian Ocean, saying it has taken "three, four days for us to work out where we can land there."

"It would have been much more convenient landing there as opposed to flying many extra hours, so we are very surprised," he said.

Later, the president said the United Kingdom has been "very, very uncooperative with that stupid island." 

"It’s a shame," Trump said. "That country, the U.K., and I love that country, I love it."

TRUMP TELLS STARMER AIRCRAFT CARRIERS NO LONGER NEEDED IN MIDEAST, ACCUSES HIM OF JOINING WAR US ‘ALREADY WON’

"This is not the age of Churchill," he added.

Trump slammed Starmer again on Saturday, accusing the prime minister of joining the war after the U.S. had "already won."

"The United Kingdom, our once Great Ally, maybe the Greatest of them all, is finally giving serious thought to sending two aircraft carriers to the Middle East," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "That’s OK, Prime Minister Starmer, we don’t need them any longer – But we will remember. We don’t need people that join Wars after we’ve already won!"

Starmer has defended his decision to stay out of the conflict, saying the U.K. was "not involved in the ​initial strikes against Iran, and we will not join offensive action now."

"But in the face of Iran's barrage of missiles and ⁠drones, we will protect our people in the region," Starmer said in an address Monday to Parliament. "President Trump has expressed his disagreement with our decision not to get involved in the ​initial strikes, but it is my duty to judge what is in Britain's national interest. That is what I’ve done, and I stand by it."

UK BLOCKS TRUMP FROM USING RAF AIR BASES FOR POTENTIAL IRAN ATTACK: REPORT

The king and other senior royals will gather at Westminster Abbey on Monday for the annual Commonwealth Day celebration, which recognizes the 56 countries voluntarily connected to the U.K., many of which were once part of the British Empire.

The preview of the speech continues: "Working together, we can ensure that the Commonwealth continues to stand as a force for good — grounded in community, committed to the kind of restorative sustainability that has a return on investment, enriched by culture, steadfast in its care for our planet, and united in friendship and in the service of its people."

Charles’ speech at the abbey will also be the largest gathering of the royal family since former Prince Andrew was arrested on Feb. 19.

Fox News' Brooke Singman contributed to this report. 

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Former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow appeared on Capitol Hill this past week to urge lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee to pass legislation to better combat child exploitation, trafficking, and abuse — describing the effort as a fight "for people who cannot fight for themselves" and in their "darkest hour of need." 

Tebow, the founder and chair of his eponymous Tim Tebow Foundation, used the impassioned testimony before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee to shore up support for the Renewed Hope Act of 2026, or bipartisan legislation that seeks to increase federal resources to fight child exploitation and abuse. 

Framing the crisis as a "fight for people who cannot fight for themselves in their darkest hour of need," Tebow said his foundation is working "imperfectly, but in every way that we can" to support the fight against child exploitation, including by providing additional support to law enforcement, and funding long-term restoration efforts to support victims.

His foundation currently provides support for some 52 safe homes, and is in the process of expanding the support to an additional 19 homes.

DHS SHUTDOWN TRIGGERS TSA ‘EMERGENCY MEASURES’ AS LAWMAKER WARNS AIRPORTS COULD FEEL ECONOMIC PAIN

"It is a thin line between tortured and treasured," Tebow told lawmakers Tuesday. "And you are that thin line," he said, urging the chamber to take swift action to approve the bill.

"I spent way too much of my life chasing a much less important MVP," Tebow added. "I want to spend the rest of my life chasing the most vulnerable people."

The Renewed Hope Act of 2026, which cleared House committee markup earlier this year, seeks to establish a dedicated workforce of more than 200 analysts, investigators, and forensic specialists working within DHS's Homeland Security Investigations, or HSI, to "deconflict, coordinate, and synchronize child sexual exploitation investigations." 

The bill would equip and specially train officers on victim identification, location, and rescue operations for unknown children or children identified in sexual abuse databases.

Support for the legislation comes as the number of unidentified child victims in exploitation databases has surged in recent years. According to the Tim Tebow Foundation, there are an estimated 57,000 unidentified victims of child trafficking. The foundation emphasizes that these children remain hidden from official statistics and protection systems — as echoed by others who testified in Tuesday's emotional hearing.  

HOUSE VOTES TO LET TRUMP'S OPERATION EPIC FURY CONTINUE IN IRAN

In the last six months alone, Tebow noted that more than 338,000 unique IP addresses based in the U.S. have been identified trading child sexual abuse images across so-called "peer-to-peer" networks.

"Every day, [these children] are praying that we are going to respond," Tebow said in his testimony. "But how are we going to respond?"

"I am deeply grateful to the members of Congress on both sides of the aisle who are coming together to support the Renewed Hope Act of 2026. This legislation gives our nation the opportunity to build a stronger rescue team of analysts and investigators so that children who are suffering can be identified and protected. This is a problem we can solve."

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., who chairs the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism, has long prioritized issues of child trafficking, which he assailed as a "scourge" on our society.

"I am convening this subcommittee hearing to expose how our youth are groomed, exploited, and overlooked by the existing system," he said this week. "Congress must dismantle the criminal networks that profit from exploiting the most vulnerable among us and put an end to child trafficking."

Fox News Digital's Scott Thompson contributed to this report. 

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Team USA has steamrolled the competition so far in the World Baseball Classic.

Kyle Schwarber hit a two-run homer and Gunnar Henderson had four hits and two RBIs in a 9-1 victory over Britain on Saturday night. 

The U.S. improved to 2-0 in Pool B at Houston. Britain fell to 0-2.

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Nate Eaton homered on Tarik Skubal’s first pitch to give Britain a quick lead it held until the fifth inning, but his teammates couldn’t muster anything else at the plate.

U.S. hitters had managed just one single when Ernie Clement reached on an error by third baseman Ivan Johnson to start the fifth. Pete Crow-Armstrong doubled before Clement scored on a wild pitch by Andre Scrubb to tie it at 1.

Schwarber followed with a 427-foot drive that landed near the back of the second deck in right field to put the United States on top 3-1.

There were two outs in the inning when Henderson’s two-run single made it 5-1.

Aaron Judge, who homered in Friday night’s win over Brazil, knocked out a panel on the metal scoreboard with a 109.6 mph RBI single in a three-run sixth that pushed it to 8-1.

Skubal allowed two hits with five strikeouts in three innings. It’s scheduled to be the only start of the tournament for the two-time defending AL Cy Young Award winner, who will return to spring training with the Detroit Tigers on Sunday.

Britain plays Italy on Sunday. The Americans are off until reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes pitches Monday night against Mexico.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

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Debate on Capitol Hill continues to rage over whether President Donald Trump started a "war" with the strikes he carried out against Iran last weekend, a key consideration for whether the president must look to Congress for authority to continue Operation Epic Fury.

Where Republicans see a narrowly-tailored attack designed to prevent a U.S. adversary from securing nuclear capabilities, Democrats see a conflict that could easily spill into a broader conflict.

"Congress is not supposed to be an after-the-fact spectator, the Constitution makes plain," Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., told Fox News Digital.

"President Trump has not said, like in Venezuela, ‘this is a police operation,' that it’s ‘an arrest,’" Kaine said, comparing the strikes to the January capture of Nicolás Maduro.

OPERATION EPIC FURY SURVIVES SENATE CHALLENGE AS REPUBLICANS CLOSE RANKS BEHIND TRUMP

Democrats like Kaine have blasted Trump for dragging the U.S. into a conflict that, in their view, looks a lot like a war — something only Congress has the power to declare. It is that determination that makes them believe lawmakers should use the War Powers Act of 1973 to curb Trump's powers in Iran.

That law prevents the president from continuing hostilities against a foreign power that extends past 60 days.

Republicans like Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., see no reason to invoke the War Powers Act, given the scope of the current conflict.

A measure to kill a Democrat-led war powers resolution aimed at handcuffing Trump’s military operations in Iran passed on Wednesday in a 53-47 Senate vote.

"I mean, even if you disagree with this, I just don’t think you can dispute [that] they’re complying with the statute. The president has the authority under Article II to do what he has done so far," Hawley said, referring to the Constitution's military power granted to the country's commander in chief.

Last Saturday, the U.S. conducted a series of strikes in collaboration with Israel, targeting the country’s military leadership and killing the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The Trump administration has framed the attack as a necessary campaign to halt Iran’s work towards obtaining a nuclear weapon.

Although Hawley supports the administration’s work so far, he has a firm red line in mind for where the conflict would require Congressional say-so.

"Ground troops would be a different deal," Hawley said. "But [Trump] just said, ‘We’re not going to do ground troops,’ so, I just say to my Democrat friends — I think they’re just looking for something to vote against the president on."

REPUBLICANS HAND TRUMP THE WHEEL ON IRAN — BUT ONE RED LINE EMERGES

Democrats remain unconvinced.

Some Democrats noted that the language the administration has used suggests it views the conflict as something more than isolated strikes.

"The president and the secretary of state have called it a war. So have the generals. If we’re at war, Congress has to provide authorization," Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said.

Other Democrats, like Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., attacked the administration’s stated reason for the attack.

"There was no imminent threat to the United States. There were threats to Israel, but in terms of an imminent threat, there was not one.  Consequently, this is the president’s war of choice," Warner said.

NIKKI HALEY SLAMS DEMOCRATS WHO SAY IRANIAN REGIME 'WAS NO THREAT TO AMERICA': 'ABSURD'

"You have to come before Congress," Warner added.

To Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the consideration should deal less with technicalities and more with consideration of the cost that could come with Trump’s attacks.

"The American people make the decision on going to war because it's their sons and daughters that will lose their lives. I still think that’s the case, regardless of who the president might be," Durbin said.

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