Trump Calls Iran War 'Small Potatoes'
Trump Calls Iran War 'Small Potatoes'
The News
President Donald Trump on Friday played down the war in Iran, calling the six-month conflict "small potatoes," Bloomberg reported.
He also disputed that it is a war at all. "A lot of people don't call it a war. I call it a military conflict," Trump said, according to CNN, cited by Political Wire.
Hours earlier, Trump said the US may soon strike Pickaxe Mountain, a heavily fortified Iranian site near the damaged Natanz uranium enrichment facility, Reuters and the Jerusalem Post reported.
Timeline
Trump says the US may hit Iran's Pickaxe Mountain "soon," per Reuters and the Jerusalem Post. The site, next to the heavily damaged Natanz enrichment complex, holds two deeply buried tunnel complexes.
Trump calls the conflict "small potatoes," Bloomberg reports, the latest comment from a senior US leader minimizing a war that has run more than six months.
The Hill reports Trump attacking press coverage of the war, branding critics "treasonous scum."
CNN, cited by Political Wire, reports the conflict has killed 18 American service members and driven a spike in gas prices.
The Toll So Far
Reactions
Trump's own framing is the story: he told reporters that "a lot of people don't call it a war," preferring the term "military conflict," per CNN.
Political Wire described the remark as the latest attempt by the president to minimize a six-month war with a real American casualty count and a measurable hit to consumers at the pump.
The Hill reported Trump turning his fire on the press over its coverage of the war, using the phrase "treasonous scum."
Bloomberg noted Trump is not alone — other top US leaders have also downplayed the scope of the fighting.
What's Next
The immediate question is Pickaxe Mountain. Trump has now publicly floated a strike on the tunnel complexes near Natanz, and Reuters reported he said it could come soon.
Any move against a deeply buried site would mark an escalation in a conflict the president is simultaneously describing as minor.
More
Pickaxe Mountain sits beside Natanz, Iran's enrichment site that has already sustained heavy damage. According to the Jerusalem Post, the mountain is fortified and hosts two deeply buried tunnel complexes — the kind of target that is hard to reach with conventional strikes.
Poll
Is "small potatoes" a fair way to describe the Iran conflict?
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