Trump Calls Iran Conflict 'Small Potatoes' Despite Deaths of 18 US Troops, Then Threatens Another Strike

President Trump described the six-month war between the United States and Iran as 'small potatoes' on Friday, even as he acknowledged that eighteen American service members have died in the conflict.

Speaking to reporters at the White House on Friday 4 September 2026, Trump defended Vice President JD Vance's earlier assertion that the fighting no longer amounts to a war, saying strikes have become 'intermittent' and that a lot of people do not call it a war.

Trump also said the United States may strike Iran's fortified Pickaxe Mountain site very soon if activity there raises concern. The remarks came as a Reuters and Ipsos poll released this week found nearly six in ten American adults disapprove of the military strikes on Iran.

Comparing American Losses to Vietnam

Asked directly about the war's human cost, Trump compared the eighteen American deaths to Vietnam, telling reporters, 'I call it a military conflict because it's small potatoes for us.'

He drew a further comparison to the US operation that captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January, saying, 'We did Venezuela, and we did this. In Venezuela, we lost nobody. In this, we lost 18 people.'

Vance had told reporters a day earlier that he would not call the conflict a war, saying there was currently no active shooting and that major combat operations had ended after about six weeks. An Air Force email from August, obtained by CBS News, showed Pentagon officials instructing personnel to stop referring to the operations in Iran in terms that implied an active war.

Trump said he understood the reasoning behind Vance's choice of words, telling reporters, 'I don't think it matters what you call it' when pressed on the semantic distinction. The exchange underscored the administration's changing language around the conflict as fighting continues into its seventh month.

A Threat Against a Fortified Mountain Complex

Trump left open the possibility of a fresh strike on Pickaxe Mountain, a heavily fortified site near Iran's already-damaged Natanz uranium enrichment facility that is believed to house two deeply buried tunnel complexes.

'We may hit Pickaxe very soon,' Trump told reporters, adding, 'We know everybody that's moving at Pickaxe. We know everybody that's moving everywhere all over Iran, and if anything goes bad, we hit them.' Natanz was first bombed in June 2025 and struck again during the current war.

Trump also claimed that the US military now controls the Strait of Hormuz and has cleared the waterway of mines, though he suggested the strait's strategic importance was declining as new oil pipelines and routes are developed across the Middle East.

The president's comments on Pickaxe Mountain were not the first time he has raised the possibility of striking the site.

He has referenced a potential operation there repeatedly in recent months without following through, and analysts have cautioned that the tunnel complex's depth and fortification would make any strike technically difficult even with the bunker-busting munitions the US military has previously used against Iranian nuclear infrastructure.

A Costly Conflict With No Clear End

The war has already cost American taxpayers more than $37.5bn (£27.5bn) and contributed to a rise in fuel prices, with the American Automobile Association reporting the average price of petrol in the United States at £3.04 ($4.15) per gallon, nearly a dollar higher than a year earlier.

A US munition likely struck a house hosting a wedding celebration in Kuhestak, Sirik County, on September, according to weapons experts who examined footage verified by Reuters. Iranian officials say four people were killed and at least 68 wounded, with state television later reporting a fifth death. The US military says it is investigating and has not accepted responsibility.

The Trump administration has signalled it intends to escalate economic pressure on Iran regardless of the military situation.

In August, Trump pledged on Truth Social to pursue what he called the most crushing economic operation ever taken against any country, and this week his administration announced fresh sanctions targeting Iran's remaining financial channels.

With diplomatic efforts stalked and the midterm elections two months away, Trump's insistence that the war is 'small potatoes' sits uneasily against a rising death toll and a public increasingly sceptical of the campaign's costs.