Trump Downplays Iran Conflict as ‘Small Potatoes,’ Backs Vance’s ‘Not a War’ Claim

President Donald Trump on Friday described the ongoing conflict with Iran as “small potatoes” and defended Vice President JD Vance’s assertion that months of intermittent fighting in the Middle East should not be described as a “war.”

Asked about Vance’s comments from a day earlier, Trump said U.S. strikes against Iran are now “intermittent” and that many people do not consider the conflict a war.

“I can understand what he’s saying,” Trump said of Vance. He added that he considers it a “military conflict” because, for the United States, “it’s small potatoes” and “not a big thing.”

Vance, speaking at a White House briefing Thursday, rejected the use of the word “war” to describe the U.S. fighting with Iran. He also avoided predicting whether the six-month-old conflict would end before the Nov. 3 midterm elections.

“I wouldn’t call it a war,” Vance said. “Right now, there is no active shooting.”

Vance’s comments came despite Iran launching an attack on Kuwait, a U.S. ally in the Gulf, on Thursday. The attack was reportedly carried out in retaliation for a series of U.S. strikes on Iran earlier in the week.

According to the Associated Press, the conflict has cost U.S. taxpayers more than $37.5 billion and has resulted in the deaths of 18 U.S. service members. The conflict began on Feb. 28. So far, the United States and Israel have carried out airstrikes against Iran, while U.S. ground troops have not been deployed inside the country.

Trump also argued that the U.S. death toll in the Iran conflict remains relatively low compared with previous American wars. He cited the January U.S. military operation in Venezuela, saying no American service members were killed there.

“We did Venezuela and we did this. In Venezuela, we lost nobody,” Trump said. “And this, we lost 18 people.”

Trump also compared the casualties with the Vietnam War, in which roughly 100,000 Americans were killed, and said other conflicts had resulted in tens of thousands of U.S. deaths.

Source: AP