Trump Calls Iran Conflict ‘Small Potatoes,’ Agrees With Vance It Is Not a War

President Donald Trump defended Vice President JD Vance’s refusal to call the six-month U.S.-Iran fighting a war, saying during an Oval Office exchange that American strikes are now “intermittent.” Trump said he understood Vance’s position and described the campaign as a “military conflict” that was “small potatoes” for the United States. Asked about 18 U.S. service-member deaths, Trump compared the toll with larger American wars and reiterated that Iran would not obtain a nuclear weapon. The conflict began February 28 with joint U.S.-Israeli airstrikes; Vance said Thursday that he would not call the fighting a war and that there was no active shooting at that time.