Trump turns key MAGA talking point on its head as aides rush to his defense

President Donald Trump holds a Cabinet meeting, Wednesday, April 30, 2025, in the Cabinet Room. (Official White House Photo by Molly Riley)

In a Friday morning, September 4 post on his Truth Social platform, U.S. President Donald Trump posted an angry rant against Democrats — arguing that they are doing everything they can to make the United States "lose" the war in Iran." And U.S. News & World Report's Olivier Knox is pointing out that Trump just contradicted MAGA Republicans who are claiming that the U.S./Iran conflict isn't really a war."

Trump, on Truth Social, posted, "the Radical Left Lunatics, Dumocrats, and Communists would rather have us LOSE the War in Iran, than have President Donald J. Trump WIN the War for America. These are very sick people who suffer from serious TDS, sometimes referred to as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME."

In response to Trump's post, Knox wrote, "Trump: No, it's a war."

Knox's tweet was brief, but he was clearly referencing MAGA Republicans who are saying that the United States is not at war — including Vice President JD Vance.

At a White House press conference on Thursday, September 3, Vance told reporters, "I wouldn't call it a war. Right now, there is no active shooting."

During an appearance on Fox Business, U.S. Army Special Forces veteran Jim Hanson echoed Vance's claim that the Iran conflict doesn't qualify as a war.

Asked if the "conflict in Iran … qualifies as a war or not," Hanson responded, "I agree with Vice President Vance. This is not a war at this point. The United States is conducting freedom of navigation and freedom of trade operations against a rogue state. The active conflict was designed to degrade the nuclear capability in any chance for the Iranians to make a nuclear weapon in the short term."

The U.S. Army Special Forces veteran went on praise Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's handling of the conflict.

Hanson told Fox News, "Secretary Hegseth destroyed and bombed what he needed to, blockaded what he needed to, and now (Treasury) Secretary (Scott) Bessent has the Iranians in a stranglehold economically, and that's how the regime is gonna be brought to heel."

But as Knox pointed out, Trump, in his Truth Social post, used the exact words "War in Iran" to describe the conflict.

Critics of the war, both liberal and conservative, are noting how long the conflict has dragged on.

U.S. military operations against Iran started in late February, when Trump and his allies were promising a quick and brief operation. But more than half a year later, the conflict continues.

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