Video from a statement by JD Vance
Vice President JD Vance answers CNN's Kaitlan Collins about the war with Iran and its timeline, at the Sept. 3, 2026 White House press briefing.
Excerpt from about 35:00 to 37:13 of the White House video of the briefing. The C-SPAN recording cited for this source shows the same exchange. DI added its logo in the corner.
Video: The White House. Public domain (U.S. government work) (opens in a new tab)
Watch the full original video (opens in a new tab) (relevant passage: Clip of Vance's answer to CNN's Kaitlan Collins at the September 3, 2026 White House press briefing)
Asked whether the fighting with Iran would be over by the midterm elections, Vance said he would not call it a war and that "there is no active shooting" right now. He said there have been places where it "has flared up" and that major combat operations lasted about six weeks. Earlier in the briefing he pushed back on the phrase "an end to the war".
“in the phrase an end to the war, I want to push back on that just a little bit, because major combat operations are currently not ongoing, and they haven't been ongoing in a very long time. ... I wouldn't call it a war. Right now, there is no active shooting. I recognize there is -- there have been places where this has flared up, major combat operations. Again, major combat operations lasted for about six weeks.”