President Donald Trump defended Vice President JD Vance’s characterization of the ongoing Iran conflict on Friday, describing the confrontation as “small potatoes” and agreeing that it does not meet the definition of a war. Vance had stated during a White House press briefing the previous day that he would not classify the fighting as a war, noting that there is currently no active shooting occurring.
The conflict, which began Feb. 28, has resulted in significant costs and casualties. The fighting has consumed more than $37.5 billion in taxpayer funds and resulted in 18 U.S. service members killed. Iran launched attacks on U.S. Gulf ally Kuwait on Thursday in retaliation for recent American strikes. The U.S. and Israel have conducted air strikes but have not deployed ground troops into Iran.
Trump characterized the U.S. military engagement as an “intermittent” military conflict and argued that casualty figures support his position that the confrontation remains limited in scope. He drew comparisons to other military operations, noting that a recent operation in Venezuela resulted in no U.S. deaths and contrasting the current death toll with historical conflicts. Trump cited Vietnam War casualties to emphasize the relative scale of the present engagement.
Vance avoided predictions about whether the six-month-old conflict would conclude before November’s midterm elections, when Republicans are working to maintain their narrow congressional majorities. When pressed on describing the conflict as “small potatoes” given the service member deaths, Trump reiterated claims that the military engagement has achieved strategic objectives, including what he characterized as the elimination of Iran’s nuclear weapons program.
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