Vice President JD Vance told reporters on Thursday that he would not call the military conflict with Iran a “war” at the moment, but conceded that he could not predict when it would end.
Mr. Vance made the remarks at the lectern in the White House briefing room, the first person to deliver a briefing since Karoline Leavitt left as press secretary last week. His appearance was also the first briefing held by any administration official there in several weeks.
When asked whether he believed the war in Iran that President Trump and Israeli officials began in February would be over by the midterm elections, Mr. Vance said, “I wouldn’t call it a war right now.” The vice president said there was “no active shooting,” and described strikes from both sides in the past few days as occasional flare-ups.
His comments came a day after a particularly intense exchange of fire, with Iran accusing the United States of killing people at a wedding during a volley of strikes, and with the country launching attacks of its own on U.S. military assets across the Middle East.
Mr. Trump has often been much more aggressive in describing the conflict with Iran, and has sounded increasingly bellicose about what he would do to the Middle East nation if it continued striking tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. But Mr. Vance suggested that Iran would decide when precisely the conflict would end.
“I think the reality is: I don’t know the answer to that question,” Mr. Vance said. “You would have to ask the Iranians.” He also said that he was “skeptical” of reports by Iranian state media that U.S. strikes hit a wedding party and civilians in the past several days.
“The Iranian state media has not been a very good scribe about what’s happened in the conflict thus far,” he said. “So I’m extremely skeptical of this.”
A New York Times visual analysis, together with a weapons expert, concluded that the wedding was struck by a bomb used by U.S. forces.
“Unfortunately, obviously, sometimes things happen,” Mr. Vance said, echoing Mr. Trump’s past comments. But he said the United States did not have conclusive information either way, and emphasized that the administration does not intentionally target civilians.
Mr. Vance also declined to reject the former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, a friend of the vice president’s who has been deeply critical of Mr. Trump over the Iran war. Mr. Carlson has called for the president’s impeachment.
“Everybody knows that Tucker Carlson and I are friends, and I think it’s very obvious that Tucker has said some things that I disagree with,” Mr. Vance said. “He said some things about the president of the United States that I think are just wrong.” But he said he would not “play the game where I throw friends under the bus because I have political disagreements with them. I think that is a terrible place for the United States to go.”
Later, Mr. Vance spoke in support of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth amid reports that Daniel P. Driscoll, the departed Army secretary, had expressed concern about Mr. Hegseth’s leadership and his ousting of generals. Mr. Driscoll left his role in recent days.
Mr. Vance spoke warmly of Mr. Driscoll, but also praised Mr. Hegseth, whom Republican lawmakers have increasingly criticized for his seemingly chaotic management of the Pentagon.
The vice president was separately asked about the widow of John A. Klinner, an airman from Alabama known as Alex who was killed in combat with Iran. His widow, Libby Klinner, wrote on social media that she had been denied some benefits by the military because the United States had not formally declared war. Mr. Klinner left behind three young children.
“As much as our heart breaks, I can’t possibly fathom a young widow, what she’s feeling, and dealing with it,” Mr. Vance said, adding, “We very much take very seriously our commitment to get you what you need to get.”
He said he was looking forward to being at the World Trade Center site in New York to represent the administration on the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that killed about 3,000 people in three locations. He spoke nostalgically about the sense of common purpose throughout the United States shortly after the attacks.
He then added, on an apparent sarcastic note: “As you guys can probably guess, I’m really looking forward to hanging out with Joe Biden. I’m sure that we’ll have many, many intense intellectual conversations. And it’ll be great. We’ll have a great time.”
Mr. Biden is expected to attend the event with Jill Biden, the former first lady.
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