President Donald Trump described the ongoing US conflict with Iran as "small potatoes" for the United States and said he agreed with Vice President JD Vance that it should not be characterized as a "war," during an exchange with reporters in the Oval Office on Friday.
Trump backs Vance's assessment
Trump was asked about remarks Vance made a day earlier, when the vice president argued that the US military campaign against Iran should not necessarily be described as a war, pointing to the intermittent nature of the attacks. Trump said he understood Vance's position and similarly referred to the situation as a "military conflict."
"I can understand what he's saying," Trump said during the Oval Office exchange. He added that US strikes against Iran had become "intermittent" and sought to downplay the scale of the conflict.
"I call it a military conflict because it's small potatoes for us. It's not a big thing," Trump said.
Trump's comments appeared to reinforce the position Vance laid out on Thursday, as he defended his administration's description of the conflict while acknowledging the continuing US military operations.
Costs and casualties
The remarks come despite the significant human and financial costs associated with the US involvement. According to the Associated Press, the conflict has cost US taxpayers more than $37.5 billion and resulted in the deaths of 18 US service members. Trump's characterisation of the conflict as "small potatoes" therefore stands in contrast to the substantial resources committed by Washington and the American military casualties reported since the fighting began.