Will ground troops be dispatched to Iran? Trump's latest statement

Ask AI · Why does Trump’s statement on deploying troops keep changing?

The U.S.-Iran war between the U.S. and Iran is still ongoing, and whether the U.S. would carry out a ground operation in Iran has drawn major attention. U.S. President Trump said on March 19 that he would not send ground forces to Iran.

According to a March 19 report by The New York Times, Trump claimed on March 19 that he has no plans to send ground forces to Iran, even though he acknowledged he is considering steps that could pull U.S. troops into ground combat operations.

The report said Trump’s remarks still leave him room to change his mind.

When asked by reporters whether he would use ground forces, Trump said: “I’m not going to deploy ground troops anywhere. If I were going to do that, I certainly wouldn’t tell you.”

The report said Trump has repeatedly threatened over the past several days to escalate strikes against Iran—while also promising that hostilities are about to end.

Just two days earlier, Trump had said he was not afraid to send U.S. ground troops to Iran.

At the same time, reports said the Pentagon has requested $200 billion in funding for war operations against Iran, and the money is expected to face resistance on Capitol Hill.

In an exclusive report published March 18, Reuters said, citing a U.S. official and three people familiar with the matter, that as President Trump’s administration prepares for what could be the next steps the U.S. military might take in response to a potential war with Iran, it is considering deploying several thousand more U.S. service members to the Middle East to bolster its military operations in the region.

The Iran war has entered its third week, and this troop surge could give Trump more options in weighing whether to expand the U.S. military’s operations in the Middle East.

A source said the plans include ensuring tankers’ safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, a task that would be carried out mainly through air force and naval capabilities. But two U.S. officials and two other sources said ensuring the strait’s security could also mean deploying U.S. troops along Iran’s coastline.

Three people familiar with the matter and two U.S. officials said Trump’s administration also discussed a plan to send ground forces to Iran’s Qeshm Island, which is a hub for 90% of Iran’s oil exports. One official said such an operation carries extremely high risks. Iran’s missiles and drones can reach the island.

On March 13, the U.S. carried out airstrikes on military targets on the island, and Trump also threatened to strike its critical oil infrastructure. However, military experts said that given the island’s important role in Iran’s economy, controlling the island may be preferable to destroying it.

Given low public support in the United States for action against Iran, and Trump’s campaign promise to avoid pulling the U.S. into a new Middle East conflict, any use of U.S. ground forces— even for a limited mission—could expose Trump to enormous political risk.

One person familiar with the matter said Trump administration officials also discussed the possibility of deploying U.S. troops to obtain Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium.

Sources believe that at this time it is not imminent to deploy ground forces anywhere in Iran, but they declined to disclose specific details of the U.S. plan. Experts said that even for U.S. special operations forces, the mission of securing Iran’s uranium stockpile is extremely complex and full of risk.