President Donald Trump insisted Friday that the U.S. conflict with Iran is not a war, describing the six-month military campaign as "small potatoes" and "very intermittent."
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump responded to questions about the situation in Iran, including remarks made by Vice President JD Vance, who had also stated the conflict was "not a war."
"A lot of people call it a war. I call it a military conflict, because it's small potatoes," Trump said. "It's not a big thing."
He contrasted the current engagement with the U.S. operation in Venezuela, during which no American lives were lost. "We lost 18 people" in the conflict with Iran, Trump stated.
According to Department of Defense data, at least 18 U.S. service members have been killed since the conflict began in February 2026. An additional 767 service members have sustained injuries.
"It's intermittent. We do intermittent conflicts," Trump said of the ongoing military actions. "We've been in there for five months," he added, noting the conflict had surpassed the six-month mark the previous week.
Trump asserted that the U.S. intervention had prevented a wider regional conflict. "If we didn't go in there, you wouldn't have Israel right now," he told reporters. "You wouldn't have the Middle East. And they probably would go [at] European cities, and our cities next. But we stopped them in five months."