US President Donald Trump has described the conflict with Iran as “small potatoes”, saying the United States was not currently engaged in major fighting despite the deaths of 18 American service members.
Trump made the remarks on Sept 4, a day after Vice-President JD Vance said he would not describe the armed hostilities as a “war”, arguing that major combat operations had ended months ago.
Asked about Vance’s comments, Trump agreed.
“I call it a military conflict because it’s small potatoes for us. It’s not a big thing,” Reuters reported the president saying.
“You know, we do intermittent strikes. So, I heard what he said, and it was interesting because I think that there’s a lot of truth that we’re not fighting right now.”
Trump again compared the US death toll with the much higher number of American military deaths in the Vietnam and Afghanistan wars, both of which lasted for years.
“One is too much. But in Vietnam, we lost tens of thousands of people. In Afghanistan, we lost a lot,” he said.
“What we’ve done is amazing. We took over Venezuela, and we have essentially taken over Iran.”
Trump acknowledged the 18 American military deaths, saying: “We lost 18 great souls.”
“One is too much,” he said.
Trump’s comments come amid growing political scrutiny in the United States over the conflict, with polls showing Americans giving him poor marks for his handling of the fighting and rising energy prices.
The conflict has also become a political issue ahead of the November midterm elections, with Democrats criticising efforts by members of the Trump administration to play down its impact.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Sept 3 said he had “misspoke” after incorrectly claiming a day earlier that no American service members had died in the conflict with Iran. - September 5, 2026
