Trump calls Iran conflict ‘small potatoes’, says U.S. may hit Pickaxe Mountain soon — SkimNews
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- Donald Trump on Friday (September 4, 2026) called the U.S. conflict with Iran "small potatoes," defending Vice President JD Vance's earlier rejection of the word "war" to describe the six-month-old fight.
- Trump told reporters the U.S. may strike Iran's Pickaxe Mountain "very soon," a heavily fortified site near the damaged Natanz uranium enrichment facility hosting two deeply buried tunnel complexes.
- JD Vance on Thursday (September 3, 2026) said "I wouldn't call it a war" and declined to predict the conflict would end before the November 3 midterm elections.
- Vance's assertion came even as Iran fired at U.S. Gulf ally Kuwait on Thursday in retaliation for rounds of U.S. strikes earlier in the week.
- Trump said U.S. strikes on Iran are now "intermittent" and acknowledged the war has cost U.S. taxpayers more than $37.5 billion and left 18 U.S. service members dead.
- Trump defended the 18-service-member death toll by comparing it to the Vietnam War's 58,220 U.S. military deaths and the January Venezuela operation in which no Americans were killed.
- Trump framed the conflict as having "defanged" Iran's nuclear program, stating: "Iran will not have a nuclear weapon because if they did, you probably wouldn't be standing here."
Why it matters: Trump's "small potatoes" framing sits awkwardly beside the stated toll — $37.5 billion spent, 18 service members dead, and Iranian retaliation now reaching U.S. ally Kuwait. With the November 3 midweeks approaching and Republicans defending narrow congressional majorities, the administration's insistence that this is not a "war" shapes how voters weigh the conflict's true cost and duration.
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