U.S. President Donald Trump this week declared the war in Iran “effectively over” militarily and “won” by the U.S.

Axar.az reports, citing The Hill, that he did so as American taxpayers are footing the bill for billions of dollars in operational costs to keep the country’s troops at the ready overseas.

The war is no longer making top headlines, and firing between the U.S. and Iran is not taking place on a daily basis.

Yet the U.S. has a large presense in the region and is effectively in a war posture, despite the president’s remarks, which come after a midterm shellacking for his party driven in part by voter unhappiness over the war.

“We won. Now the question is when we want to end. We must have a total victory. Not a 93 percent victory. It’s going to be total,” Trump said Wednesday in remarks during a Veterans Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery.