US President Donald Trump has sought to minimise the ongoing military conflict with Iran, describing it as "small potatoes" during an Oval Office appearance on Friday, even as the war enters its seventh month with no ceasefire in sight, 18 American service members dead, and more than 750 wounded.

Speaking to reporters, Trump compared the Iran campaign to other recent US military operations, including what he described as an operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. "We did Venezuela, and we did this. In Venezuela, we lost nobody. In this, we lost 18 people. In Vietnam we lost 100,000 people," he said, though the actual US death toll in Vietnam was closer to 58,000. He echoed comments made a day earlier by Vice President JD Vance, who had claimed "there is no active shooting" — a characterisation that came despite a sharp escalation of strikes between US and Iranian forces this week. Trump said there was "a lot of truth" to Vance's assessment, preferred the term "military conflict", and insisted: "We're not fighting right now. There's no fighting."

The remarks represent the latest in a series of carefully chosen phrases the president has used since the conflict began on 28 February, when the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran. Trump has previously called the fighting a "little skirmish", a "little detour", and a "little excursion". Experts say the terminology is deliberate: the Trump administration has faced legal and political pressure for launching military action without seeking congressional authorisation, as required under the US Constitution. In June, both chambers of Congress passed a war powers resolution calling on Trump to halt the campaign or seek approval — a largely symbolic move that nonetheless reflected growing bipartisan unease. A Reuters/Ipsos poll released this week found nearly six in ten American adults disapprove of the strikes.

The human and economic costs of the conflict are mounting. At least 3,000 Iranians have been killed, according to reports, and the near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz — the narrow waterway between the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea through which a significant share of global oil trade passes — has sent energy prices sharply higher. Average petrol prices in the United States have risen to around $4.15 per gallon, up nearly a dollar from a year ago, and global food supply chains have also been disrupted. Trump asserted on Friday that the US "controls" the strait, a claim disputed by analysts and contradicted by Iran's continued ability to attack shipping in the area. He also declined to rule out imminent strikes on Pickaxe Mountain, a military site near Iran's Natanz uranium enrichment facility.

With peace talks deadlocked and the June memorandum of understanding — which was supposed to lead to a permanent ceasefire within 60 days — having expired without result, experts are sceptical that an end to the conflict is near. Analysts consulted by BBC Arabic pointed to a fundamental mismatch: Washington hopes new economic sanctions will force Tehran to negotiate from a weaker position, but Iranian leaders show little sign of yielding to that pressure, and are said to be waiting for the US to offer concessions first. As midterm elections approach in November, the president's continued effort to reframe the conflict as something smaller than a war appears aimed as much at a domestic audience as at any diplomatic end game. "I don't think it matters what you call it," Trump said. "What matters is you've had tremendous success."