Trump says he calls it "a military conflict" and could "see somebody not calling it a war"
President of the United States, answering reporters in the Oval Office
“Well, I'll tell you what, a lot of people don't call it a war. I call it a military conflict because it's small potatoes for us. It's not a big thing. ... So I can understand what he's saying. It's a military conflict, but it's very intermittent. I could see somebody not calling it a war.”
Source and context
Original video
About this source
C-SPAN's clip of President Trump answering reporters' questions in the Oval Office the day after Vance's briefing. C-SPAN's summary says Trump does not view the fighting as a war and quotes his remark that it is small potatoes for the U.S.
Original text
About this source
Roll Call Factbase's transcript of the Oval Office event at which Trump signed an executive order and took questions from reporters. It contains his answers about whether the fighting with Iran is a war.
Reporting
About this source
AP's report on Trump's Oval Office remarks on September 4, 2026. It reports that 18 U.S. service members had died in the conflict and that the war began February 28.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
Trump was answering reporters in the Oval Office the day after Vance said he would not call the fighting a war.
After the quotation
Trump said 18 people were lost in the conflict and compared that with deaths in Vietnam and other conflicts. He also said Iran will not have a nuclear weapon.
How this statement is classified
Responding to: Vice President JD Vance said he would not call the U.S. fight with Iran a war, saying there is no active shooting right now and that major combat operations lasted about six weeks.
The label describes this statement’s response within the context above.
Why this label?
Trump endorses Vance's description. He says he can understand it, explains his own label by the size and intermittent pace of the fighting, and says he could see someone not calling it a war. His small potatoes remark also downplays the fighting, but the reference point is the label, so defends or excuses fits better than minimizes.
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Is the U.S. fight with Iran a war, as Vice President Vance says it is not?
Explore the case context, sources and public responses.
More from this case
Read the full case“it is an overt military aggression against Iran’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”Read statement
“We're still in a conflict, for sure. The United States Navy is there to reduce Iran's ability to cause trouble, but they're doing everything they can to cause trouble. And the United States' capabilities to deflect that have continued to grow. But we're in a conflict zone. ... So, this is a conflict. Make no mistake about that.”Read statement
““Small potatoes.” That’s how Donald Trump feels about the war he started in Iran. Tell that to the families of the 18 troops we’ve lost, the hundreds of wounded servicemembers, and the Americans suffering every single day from record high prices. There's nothing small about it.”Read statement