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The conflict in Iran has now passed the 100-day mark.
In his victory speech after winning the 2024 presidential election, Donald Trump said:
“I’m not going to start a war. I’m going to stop wars.”
But as the conflict with Iran has now crossed the 100-day mark, Trump is being accused of abandoning his own promise from that victory speech.
However, Trump insists that he has not abandoned his promise because the conflict with Iran is not a war – at least not a big one.
Military exercise
During an appearance on NBC’s Meet the Press with Kristen Welker, the president brushed off the gravity of the situation entirely.
Welker asked Donald Trump directly: “Is the United States at war with Iran?”
Donald Trump did not answer the question directly. Instead, he argued that Iran had been “largely decapitated,” after which he said:
“And I call it a military exercise because people would rather have it called that. It’s not a big war for us. It’s not.”
The ultimate blockade
A shaky ceasefire has held for two months, but peace talks are stalled. Meanwhile, the U.S. military maintains a strict naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which many experts view as an act of war.
The president described the blockade as a simple retaliation. “They put up a blockade and so we blockaded them,” Trump told NBC. “And we have the ultimate blockade. I don’t consider that a war, but if you want to define it as such, I guess you can.”
He dismissed the need for labels. “I don’t define it at all. I don’t think about it. I just do what I have to do,” he added.
A heavy toll
So far, 13 American service members have died. Even so, the administration avoids using the word “war” because it usually requires formal political approval.
This stance clashes with Trump’s 2024 campaign promises to avoid foreign conflicts. When pressed on NBC about breaking that vow, he defended his record.
Public opinion is shifting, and lawmakers are pushing back. The House of Representatives recently voted to limit the president’s power to undertake unauthorized military actions against foreign nations.
“First of all, I didn’t guarantee no war,” he claimed. “Why would I have built the strongest military in the world?” Trump further argued that his heavy military deployment is actually doing the public a massive favor.
