Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick inadvertently revealed that President Donald Trump prefers to focus on golf and construction projects rather than discuss the ongoing conflict with Iran. Speaking outside a Washington DC courthouse in late August while defending plans to add Trump's name to the Kennedy Center, Lutnick said the president finds such building projects genuinely enjoyable, even calling him late at night to discuss them, in contrast to less welcome conversations about Iran.

The remarks come as the US-Iran conflict has intensified again after a quieter August. Following a month-long lull, the US struck Iranian military sites on 30 August and 1 September, prompting Iran's most aggressive retaliation since April, with nearly 60 projectiles fired at Israel and US and allied bases across the region. Iran's health ministry said the US strikes killed 18 and wounded 108, while the war's overall toll is estimated at more than 3,500 Iranian deaths and 18 US service members killed with over 750 wounded, according to the US Department of War. A ceasefire signed in June has since collapsed, and a US naval blockade continues to damage Iran's economy through inflation and currency depreciation.