Trump Calls Iran Conflict 'Small Potatoes' — SkimNews
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- Trump called the Iran conflict "small potatoes" during an Oval Office exchange Friday, defending Vice President JD Vance's assertion that the months-long fighting is not a "war."
- Vance told reporters Thursday "I wouldn't call it a war" and "Right now, there is no active shooting," while declining to predict the 6-month-old conflict would end before the November 3 midterm elections.
- The conflict has cost U.S. taxpayers more than $37.5 billion and left 18 U.S. service members dead, according to figures cited in the report.
- Trump compared the 18 U.S. deaths to the Vietnam War's 58,220 American military fatalities and to the recent Venezuela operation, which resulted in zero U.S. casualties.
- The U.S. and Israel have conducted only air strikes since the conflict began Feb. 28 and have not deployed ground troops into Iran.
- Iran fired at U.S. Gulf ally Kuwait on Thursday in retaliation for U.S. strikes earlier in the week — the same day Vance declared there was "no active shooting."
- Trump claimed Iran's nuclear program has been "defanged," telling reporters "Iran will not have a nuclear weapon because if they did you probably wouldn't be standing here."
Why it matters: Trump and Vance are minimizing a conflict that has cost taxpayers $37.5 billion and killed 18 service members — even as Iran struck Kuwait the same day Vance said 'there is no active shooting.' With Republicans defending narrow congressional majorities in November, the administration is actively reframing a stalemated war as something less than war.
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