President Donald Trump said on Friday that the military conflict with Iran was "small potatoes" for the United States, describing it as a relatively minor issue. Vice President JD Vance had made similar comments a day earlier, saying he would not characterize the clashes as a war despite increased confrontations in the Strait of Hormuz. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that he called it a military conflict rather than a war because of its limited significance to American interests.
The six-month confrontation has killed 18 US service members and thousands of Iranians, according to Trump's remarks. The conflict has reached a stalemate, with Iran disrupting shipping traffic through the strategic waterway. Trump said the United States was conducting "intermittent strikes" and claimed the country effectively controlled the Strait of Hormuz and had severely damaged Iran's military capabilities.
The administration's effort to minimize the conflict comes as fuel prices threaten to affect Republican control of Congress in November's midterm elections. Trump compared the Iran situation to longer wars in Vietnam and Afghanistan, arguing its scale was not comparable. When pressed on calling the conflict "small potatoes" given the American deaths, Trump said success mattered more than terminology.
Trump stated that the United States had prevented Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and asserted that America had "essentially taken over" both Venezuela and Iran. He was surrounded by cattle ranchers at the time, having invited them to the Oval Office for the signing of two executive orders on beef processing.
