Trump calls Iran war ‘small potatoes,’ says ‘it’s not a big thing’

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump described the Iran war as “small potatoes” and “not a big thing" in his latest attempt to minimize the severity of the conflict.

“I call it a military conflict because it’s small potatoes for us," Trump told reporters in remarks from the Oval Office on Sept. 4. “It’s not a big thing.”

Trump argued that the fighting with Iran is intermittent and a flare-up.

The Trump administration has sought in recent days to downplay the intensity of the fighting in Iran even as the U.S. and Iran traded fire in recent days, in a conflict that has extended past the six-month mark.

Trump’s comments come a day after Vice President JD Vance rejected using the term “war” to describe a conflict that has resulted in the deaths of 18 American service members and nearly 800 injuries.

“I wouldn’t call it a war,” Vance told reporters during a White House press briefing on Sept. 3. He said there had been “no active shooting.”

The U.S. struck Iranian military targets near the Strait of Hormuz on Sept. 1 for the second time in three days, the first exchange of fire in weeks. The airstrikes targeted Iranian mine-laying…

Original source: https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/