Donald Trump rants about how short his Iran war has been then says he would’ve won Vietnam “very quickly” despite being a draft dodger

The Iran war has had constantly shifting desired goals, causes, and now even resolution. It’s hard to get almost anyone to agree on anything about this particular war except that it has gone on for too long — well, except for Donald Trump. The president believes this war hasn’t gone on as long as his predecessors would have dragged it out, and even claimed that had he been in charge during the 20-year Vietnam War, he would have ended it quicker.

Sometimes Trump’s attempts at shifting the discourse work — like when he was debating Hillary Clinton and said he’s a tax cheat because of the laws she voted for — but these days, his “spin” often comes off as more strained once people start parsing what he’s actually saying.

The president was speaking to CNBC’s Squawk Box in a wide-ranging conversation where he covered immediate concerns such as his Fed chair pick Kevin Warsh, his much-discussed White House ballroom, and then, eventually, the discussion circled back to surging oil prices and the Iran war.

Trump was specifically responding to critics saying the Iran conflict should end before the ceasefire window, arguing that two months is far shorter than other wars. According to The Independent He said, “I just looked at a little chart: World War One, four years and three months. World War Two, six years. Korean War, three years. Vietnam, 19 years. Iraq, eight years — I’m five months [in Iran].” He added, “I would have won Vietnam very quickly. I would have, if I were president.”

But Trump bringing up Vietnam revived a long-standing sore spot for his critics. The war itself lasted two decades in various phases, cost roughly 58,000 American service members their lives, and generated intense domestic backlash. In American politics, the most politically convenient postwar position for presidents has often been that the war would not have been started under their watch — largely because, as the conflict dragged on, the strategic objectives also became harder to clearly define.

Trump is also widely believed to have avoided a military draft. In 1968, his father Fred Trump had a tenant who was a podiatrist, and that doctor wrote to the draft board claiming the future president had bone spurs in his heels. On that basis, Donald Trump was deemed ineligible for service. Which might not be the case for many Americans soon.

So while Trump has often claimed he can easily resolve any war, critics argue history points in a more complicated direction — especially when pressure and consequences enter the picture. That tension becomes more relevant as he escalates rhetoric about “ending civilizations,” with opponents challenging him to consider whether his own family, including his son Barron, would ever be placed in harm’s way in conflicts framed around his “fact-based feelings.”

As things stand, April 22 is the day the ceasefire is scheduled to expire, and a resolution will need to be reached. A compromise will be required from multiple parties, each with different goals. For lack of a better term, a deal has to be made. Trump’s boasts, often sweeping, will once again be tested against what actually unfolds on the ground.