President Donald Trump has again refused to describe the ongoing US military campaign against Iran as a "war", instead repeating four times in the Oval Office that it is a "military conflict" and "small potatoes". His remarks echo comments made a day earlier by Vice President JD Vance, and come despite the conflict entering its seventh month with mounting American casualties and rising fuel prices at home.

According to Department of Defense figures, at least 18 US service members have died and 767 have been wounded since the campaign began in February 2026. Trump compared the toll favourably to past conflicts such as Vietnam and the US operation in Venezuela, in which he said no American lives were lost. He argued that roughly 50,000 US troops deployed to the Strait of Hormuz and intermittent strikes had prevented a wider Israeli-Iranian war from spreading to Europe and the US, despite petrol prices remaining above $4 a gallon.