Washington DC, Sept. 4 -- US President Donald Trump on Friday (local time) backed Vice President JD Vance's characterisation of the ongoing confrontation with Iran as not amounting to a war, describing the hostilities as an "intermittent" military conflict and calling it "small potatoes" for Washington.

Speaking to reporters at the Oval Office, Trump, when asked to clarify Vance's "not a war" remark after recent US strikes against Iran for the first time in several weeks, said, "A lot of people don't call it a war. I call it a military conflict because it's small potatoes for us; it's not a big thing."

The US President said that he understood Vance's position and argued that the current situation differed significantly from prolonged US...