In early March 2026, a rumor spread online that the loss of three F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jets due to friendly fire during a military operation in Iran had an equal or greater cost than the total savings claimed by the Department of Government Efficiency, the cost-cutting initiative U.S. President Donald Trump championed at the beginning of his second term.
For example, an X user claimed on March 2, 2026 (archived), "Fun Fact: Losing three U.S. fighter jets cancels out all of the money DOGE claims to have saved us."
The story spread as the United States and Israel initiated a conflict with Iran, reportedly killing Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Some users seemed to interpret the rumor as true. Snopes readers contacted us to investigate its legitimacy.
(@theliamnissan on X)
The rumor was fictional.
It originated from a social media account that described its content as parody.
To determine the rumor's origin, we first used search engines such as Bing, DuckDuckGo, Google and Yahoo.
If the numbers added up, journalists with reputable news outlets, such as The Associated Press or Reuters, would have widely reported on it, and those search inquiries would have uncovered such evidence. That was not the case.
Further, the official DOGE website claimed it saved the government a total of $215 billion (or $1,335.40 per taxpayer). According to the U.S. Air Force's official fact sheet on the F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet, one unit cost $31.1 million in 1998 dollars.
Adjusted for inflation, the cost would be closer to $62 million in 2026 dollars today. Either way, the total for three jets doesn't approach DOGE's self-proclaimed $215 billion in savings. Whether DOGE's number is factually accurate is up for debate.
X account @theliamnissan — a play on the name of actor Liam Neeson — first shared the rumor on March 2, 2026 (archived). The bio for the account read, "What I have is a particular set of skills; skills that make me a nightmare for Nazi d***bags on the internet. I joke and drive a Nissan (parody)."
We reached out to the account for its response to the fact that some people mistook the satirical story as real news. We will update this story if we receive a response.
Snopes has debunked similar pieces of media before. For example, in February 2026, we alerted readers to a fake story about Jesse Jackson's family saying they didn't want former U.S. President Barack Obama at his funeral with comparable origins.
Let us note here: Whether you agree with something being described as satire or parody is a matter of opinion. Snopes is in the business of facts. We label these rumors based on creators' description of them. Your call on whether you agree.