Trump backs Vance on Iran, calls US conflict 'small potatoes'

Washington,UPDATED: Sep 5, 2026 03:04 IST

US President Donald Trump on Friday defended Vice President JD Vance's description of the fighting with Iran as not being a "war", saying the conflict was "small potatoes" for the United States. Speaking in the Oval Office, Trump said he could understand Vance's remarks as US strikes on Iran were now "intermittent".

Trump's comments appeared to play down a conflict that has cost US taxpayers more than USD 37.5 billion and left 18 US service members dead. The fighting began on February 28, and Vance had said a day earlier that he would not describe it as a war and would not predict whether it would end before the November 3 congressional elections.

Asked about Vance's comments, Trump said, "I can understand what he's saying." He added, "I call it a military conflict because it's small potatoes for us. It's not a big thing." On Thursday, during a White House press briefing, Vance had rejected the use of the word "war" for the US fighting with Iran. Asked whether the fighting could end before voters cast their ballots in the midterm elections, in which Republicans are trying to hold on to their narrow majorities in Congress, Vance said, "I wouldn't call it a war," and added, "Right now, there is no active shooting."

Vance's remarks came even as Iran fired at Kuwait, a US ally in the Gulf, on Thursday in retaliation for rounds of US strikes on Iran earlier in the week. In Friday's exchange with reporters, Trump said the US death toll in the Iran conflict was relatively lower than in some other recent US wars. The US, along with Israel, has carried out only air strikes in the Iran war and has not deployed troops into the country.

Trump also compared the losses to other conflicts. "We did Venezuela and we did this. In Venezuela, we lost nobody," he said, referring to the January US military operation to seize former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and take him to New York City to face federal drug trafficking charges. He added, "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." According to records from the US Archives, 58,220 members of the US armed forces died during the Vietnam War.

When a reporter pressed him on calling the conflict "small potatoes" despite the deaths of 18 US service members, Trump repeated his argument that the fighting had weakened Iran's nuclear programme. "Iran will not have a nuclear weapon because if they did you probably wouldn't be standing here," he said. The exchange underscored the administration's effort to describe the six-month conflict as limited even as it has involved repeated strikes, heavy spending and American casualties.

With PTI Inputs

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