JD Vance says "When will the Iranians stop shooting at ships?" about U.S.-Iran clash over ship attacks

At a press briefing at the White House on Thursday, Vice President JD Vance declined to call the U.S.-Iranian confrontation a war, said he could not say whether it would end before the Nov. 3 midterm elections, and asserted that no combat was underway at that moment. Iran was reported to have fired at Kuwait that same day, retaliating for earlier U.S. strikes. Vance framed the American strikes as a response to Iranian targeting of commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Asked about any endpoint, he said Washington cannot decide that, because it depends on Tehran, and he declined to set arbitrary deadlines. The exchange underscores the political difficulty for President Donald Trump and Republicans defending slim majorities in Congress while the six-month conflict, once projected to last only weeks, has pushed up gasoline prices and inflation.