Trump calls seven-month war on Iran as ‘small potatoes’ despite heavy US losses

US President Donald Trump has sought to downplay the scale and consequences of the US-Israeli aggression against Iran, calling the months-long war “small potatoes” despite mounting casualties and heavy damage to US military assets.

On Friday, Trump defended Vice President J.D. Vance’s description of the US-Israeli aggression against Iran as “not a war”, insisting that the attacks were “intermittent” and that “a lot of people do not call it a war.”

“I can understand what he is saying,” Trump remarked, claiming, “I call it a military conflict because it is small potatoes for us. It is not a big thing.”

Regarding the state of the aggression, Vance had said on Thursday that “I would not call it a war … Right now, there is no active shooting” even as Iran fired waves of drones and missiles at US bases in the region in retaliation for American strikes earlier in the week.

The aggression has now entered its seventh month, with Vance refusing to predict whether the fighting will end before the November 3 midterm elections, in which Republicans are fighting to retain their narrow majorities in Congress.

The war has become deeply unpopular among American voters, with only 25 percent saying it is worthwhile in a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll, raising the prospect that the prolonged aggression could cost Republicans control of Congress in November.

Trump’s dismissive remarks come despite Iran’s Armed Forces wounding thousands of US military personnel, killing 18 others, and inflicting significant damage on US military bases.

The war has cost US taxpayers more than $50 billion, while the Pentagon has asked Congress for at least another $70 billion to cover its losses.

Fortune magazine has reported that the war is costing American taxpayers approximately $1 billion per day. 

The US national debt has surpassed $40 trillion, and the war has driven gasoline prices up 40 percent since February to $4.11 per gallon. Thirty-year mortgage rates have risen to 6.65 percent from 5.98 percent before the war. 

The New York Times, in an op-ed by former Biden envoy Robert Malley and historian Stephen Wertheim, described Trump’s defeat in Iran as a “gift to America” that may finally break the cycle of failed interventions. 

“The unnecessary, unjustified, and illegal war disrupted the region, damaged the global economy, and angered the American people,” they wrote. 

Trump, however, has sought to minimize the US death toll by comparing it with casualties from previous US military adventurisms, declaring, “We did Venezuela and we did this... And this, we lost 18 people. And in Vietnam we lost 100,000 people.”

The comparison itself is misleading, as US military deaths in Vietnam totaled 58,220, according to the US National Archives, rather than the 100,000 figure cited by Trump.

Trump further alleged without providing any evidence that US airstrikes had crippled Iran’s nuclear program, declaring, “Iran will not have a nuclear weapon because if they did you probably would not be standing here.”

Iran has repeatedly maintained that its nuclear program is peaceful and that it has no intention of developing nuclear weapons.

US intelligence assessments and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have confirmed that Iran’s nuclear program is peaceful.

Trump-appointed judge lets Pentagon silence journalists who revealed Iran war nightmare

A federal judge refuses to stop the US Department of War from firing three Stars and Stripes employees who sued the Pentagon for wrongful termination.

The latest round of aggression against Iran began on February 28, when US and Israeli forces launched large-scale strikes on Iranian territory.

Iran’s Armed Forces responded with daily waves of missiles and drones targeting US and Israeli assets across the region, and closed the Strait of Hormuz to US and allied vessels.

On June 17, Iran and the US signed the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in an effort to end the wars across all fronts.

In recent weeks, in violation of the MoU, the US has continued its naval blockade of Iran and struck multiple locations in southern Iran, prompting Tehran to target US military facilities across the region and close the strategic waterway again.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.ir