President Trump said the conflict in Iran is “small potatoes” and amounts to a recurring flare-up of fighting as opposed to a full-scale war.
Mr. Trump characterized the conflict on Friday in response to a question about Vice President J.D. Vance, who a day earlier said he would not necessarily call the Iran fighting a “war.”
“It’s small potatoes for us,” Mr. Trump said in the Oval Office. “I would say that it’s intermittent. I could see someone not calling it a war.”
He said it doesn’t matter what you call it.
Mr. Trump, working with Israel, launched airstrikes against Iran on Feb. 28 to prevent the Islamic regime from building a nuclear weapon.
Iran retaliated by shutting down the Strait of Hormuz, leading to over six months of violence, diplomacy and economic pressure.
Eighteen U.S. soldiers have died in the conflict.
Mr. Trump said “one is too much,” but said the 18 deaths are small compared to the thousands who died during the Vietnam War.
The president said the campaign, overall, has been a success.
“They’re not going to have a nuclear weapon,” Mr. Trump said of Iran. “That’s what we did.”
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