President Donald Trump said Friday that he calls the Iran war a “military conflict” because he thinks it’s “small potatoes” for the United States.
Watch the clip in the video player above.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump compared Iran to other wars by length and U.S. casualties — pointing out that 18 Americans have been killed there compared to “tens of thousands of people” in other conflicts.
WATCH: U.S. strikes Iran again as Tehran targets American allies in Gulf region
The president said the U.S. has conducted “intermittent strikes” in Iran but “we’re not fighting right now.”
After a month without fighting, Iran and the U.S. traded strikes this week in the Middle East, with Iran also firing at U.S. ally Kuwait.
Watch President Donald Trump’s full remarks below.
Trump’s categorization came a day after Vice President JD Vance said that he would not describe the conflict with Iran as a war.
The president asserted Friday that the U.S. is in control of the Strait of Hormuz and that “we stopped Iran from having a nuclear weapon.”
“I don’t think it matters what you call it,” he said. “What matters is the fact that we’ve had tremendous success.”
