Donald Trump insists he has 'total control' after launching fresh missile strikes on Iran

Donald Trump has claimed he is in "total control" after his administration resumed strikes on Iran , just days after he was dealt a shocking defeat at home. The president's administration announced on Friday that it had carried out what it said were limited strikes on the nation. Trump himself told journalists the strikes were "minor" and directed at Iranian air defence systems on Qeshm Island, in the Strait of Hormuz, after claiming “a lot of progress” was made in talks with the regime.

The lame duck president went on to claim the ongoing Middle East conflict "can't be a war", because the US "hasn't lost anybody for months". To see more of the stories you love from The Mirror and to find them easily in Google then make us your preferred source. Free and easy-to-do, just click on the link here to find more from The Mirror at the top of your feed. Trump told members of the press that the US has "total control" over the situation after his administration launched attacks on what he said was a "little bit of an anti-aircraft device".

He claimed: "We knocked it out in about 15 minutes, maybe five." The president went on to add: “It can’t be a war when for five months nobody is hurt, killed or anything else. It’s not a war. You know, in Russia , Ukraine , they lose 25,000 people a month. We haven’t lost anybody in seven months. So I don’t think that’s a war. We have total control, but we’re dealing with the Iranians. We’ll see how that all works out.” The US has sustained 21 military fatalities since it launched into war with Iran.

The first service member deaths came more than eight months ago on March 1, with nearly two dozen occurring over the following summer. The most recent deaths were reported on July 1, just over four months ago. A total of 865 servicemembers have been injured during the conflict. The resumption of strikes in Iran comes in spite of Midterm results which last week suggested the public roundly rejected the conflict, on which Trump embarked early this year.

Republicans were soundly defeated at the polls, with voting Americans installing Democrats in key swing positions, including across typically deep red states and districts in Texas and Ohio. Conflict in the Middle East was cited among the key concerns of voters, who said Trump's strikes - which closed the critical Strait of Hormuz oil transportation route - hurt them in their wallets. The issue was acknowledged by senior administration figures, including Vice President JD Vance, who said it was "the reason we lost".

But Trump has indicated he has no intention to scale back the war, which he called a "thing", telling reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday: "If we have to do the rest of the Iran thing, we’re very much locked in."