The White House has returned to its prior talking point that the war against Iran shouldn't be called a war. In earlier stages of the conflict President Trump had applied various monikers that stopped far short, from an "excursion" to a "little detour" to a "stopover" to a mere limited "military operation".
A full five months ago he had proclaimed, "We had to take a little detour. Won’t be long." Various phrases like this have been repeated on a monthly basis, as what the American public was 'assured' was supposed to be a "four to six week-long" operation has blown past the six month mark this week. And yet, the administration is back at it, despite new heavy fire having been exchanged between the US and Iran just in the last few days.
Vice President JD Vance in Thursday remarks rejected the use of the word "war" to describe the conflict with Iran and declined to predict whether it would be over by November's midterm elections. At the moment Republicans hold narrow majorities in Congress, but now must face down voters amid an increasingly unpopular quagmire conflict in the Middle East. Vance in taking questions from reporters sought to reason that, "Right now, there is no active shooting."
JD Vance praises Trump for winning wars, says moments later of Iran that "I wouldn't call it a war" 🥴 pic.twitter.com/2RAoFtwa9M
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 3, 2026
Ironically, it was a mere few hours prior to Vance's comm
