President Donald Trump defended Vice President JD Vance on Friday by describing the ongoing military conflict with Iran as “small potatoes” and asserting that U.S. strikes are now intermittent. Speaking during an Oval Office exchange reported by The Associated Press, Trump backed Vance’s recent rejection of the word “war” to characterize the months of U.S. fighting in the Middle East.
Defense of White House Terminology on Iran
The remarks from the Oval Office followed a White House press briefing on Thursday where Vice President JD Vance pushed back against labeling the U.S. conflict with Iran as a “war,” according to The Associated Press. When asked whether the fighting could end before voters head to the polls for the Nov. 3 midterm elections, Vance stated that there was currently no active shooting.
During Friday’s exchange with reporters, Trump agreed with that characterization. “I can understand what he’s saying,” Trump said, as noted by The Associated Press. “I call it a military conflict because it’s small potatoes for us. It’s not a big thing.” Trump added that the U.S. and Israel have limited their operations to air strikes since the fighting began on Feb. 28, without deploying ground troops into the country.
Human and Financial Costs of the Conflict
The conflict has carried a significant financial and human toll since its onset. According to figures reported by The Associated Press, the fighting has cost U.S. taxpayers more than $37.5 billion and resulted in the deaths of 18 U.S. service members.
When pressed by a reporter about describing a conflict that has claimed 18 American lives as “small potatoes,” Trump pointed to historical comparisons with larger-scale American wars. “We did Venezuela and we did this,” Trump said, referencing the January military operation to seize former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. “In Venezuela, we lost nobody. And this, we lost 18 people. And, in Vietnam we lost 100,000 people. And in other conflicts, we lost tens of thousands of people.” Official records from the U.S. National Archives place the total number of U.S. military deaths during the Vietnam War at 58,220.
Nuclear Objectives and Retaliatory Strikes
Trump maintained that the primary objective of the campaign is the dismantling of Iran’s nuclear capabilities. At the outset of the conflict, the administration stated the operation would last a matter of weeks.
“Iran will not have a nuclear weapon because if they did you probably wouldn’t be standing here,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, according to The Associated Press. The defense of the administration’s strategy comes as regional tensions continue to flare. Gulf ally Kuwait in retaliation for rounds of U.S. strikes that took place earlier in the week.