President Trump downplayed the war with Iran and also defended Vice President JD Vance saying it wasn't a war.
Page A7From§Eachthe early bird edition — 4 September 2026
Trump calls Iran war 'small potatoes,' says it doesn’t matter if you call it war or not
The president, asked about the situation with Iran, brushes it aside as 'small potatoes.' He adds that it doesn't matter what you call it—a war or not—because, in his view, the scale is negligible. This is a refreshingly direct approach; Americans want a leader who doesn't overreact to minor overseas developments. Still, some might say that military conflicts deserve a bit more gravity, and definitions do matter in law and policy, but let's not get bogged down in semantics. At the end of the day, it's about priorities, and sometimes that means moving the goalposts—er, I mean, adjusting our perspective to the proper scale of national interest. Of course, it’s important to recognize the seriousness of any military deployment, and—well, maybe 'small potatoes' is a relative term.
“When the guy with the nuclear codes says war is 'small potatoes,' that's your cue to check the pantry. Call it whatever you want—if it's too small to count, it's too small to stop.”
“The president is just putting things in perspective. Some situations are serious, but not every international conflict needs to be treated as a crisis. Besides, definitions are subjective, and—oh, did I say 'war'? I meant, well, let's not get hung up on words.”
The receipts
President Donald Trump reiterated on Friday Vice President JD Vance’s suggestion from the day prior that the military operation in Iran is not a war. Vance, holding a press briefing at the White House, told reporters Thursday that he would not characterize the conflict as a war since “right now, there is no active shooting.” […]
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front.