Pentagon Prepares Ground Force Options for Iran as Trump Denies Immediate Deployment

The Pentagon has made detailed preparations for a possible deployment of U.S. ground forces in Iran, while President Donald Trump publicly denied any intention to send troops but left the option open, multiple sources told CBS News. Senior military commanders submitted specific requests to have a ground-force option ready as Trump weighs potential moves in the conflict the United States and Israel launched against Iran on February 28, 2026. The United States is also deploying approximately 2,500 Marines aboard three warships to the Middle East, drawn from the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit based at Camp Pendleton, California, and the USS Boxer amphibious assault ship group. Asked directly about ground troops in the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump said he was not sending troops anywhere, then immediately qualified the statement. „If I were, I certainly wouldn't tell you.” — Donald Trump via CBS News A separate Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted this week found that nearly two thirds of Americans believe Trump will order troops into a large-scale ground war, while only 7 (percent) — Americans who support a large-scale ground war in Iran support such a move.

White House insists no decision made, but options expand White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt addressed the Pentagon preparations in a formal statement, drawing a distinction between military planning and presidential decision-making. „It is the Pentagon's job to make preparations to give the commander in chief maximum options; this does not mean the president has made a decision and, as the president said yesterday in the Oval Office, he does not intend to send ground troops anywhere at this time.” — Karoline Leavitt via CBS News Two CBS News sources said the U.S. military also organized meetings specifically to prepare for the possible detention and relocation of Iranian soldiers and Iranian paramilitary forces, should Trump authorize a ground deployment. According to source articles, the United States is also preparing to deploy units of the 82nd Airborne Division in the Middle East region. One American official and three people familiar with the situation told Reuters this week that American troops could potentially land on Iran's shore or on Kharg Island, a major Iranian oil export hub. Marine Expeditionary Units are specifically designed to quickly send detachments of troops and vehicles ashore, and maintaining such a force in the region allows commanders to launch small-scale ground operations on short notice. Trump separately told reporters on Friday that he does not want a ceasefire with Iran, saying the United States is "destroying" the country and that Iran has, from a military standpoint, already lost the war.

Resigned counterterrorism chief accuses Israel and Graham of echo chamber Joe Kent, who headed the National Counterterrorism Center, resigned from the Trump administration over the Iran war and has since become the first senior official to publicly break with the administration over the conflict, according to web search results and source articles. In an interview on "The Megyn Kelly Show," Kent said that Israeli leaders and American figures including Senator Lindsey Graham created an "echo chamber" around Trump, applying pressure for months to launch a military campaign while excluding skeptical voices from internal discussions. „I saw the bubble forming around President Trump. The president was isolated and was hearing only this echo.” — Joe Kent via Libertatea Kent said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, together with pro-war figures in Trump's circle, convinced the president to act quickly against Tehran without fully analyzing the possible consequences, arguing that Trump was made to believe the campaign would be "quick and easy." Kent also said the decision-making process for the February 28 attack differed fundamentally from earlier deliberations over striking Iranian nuclear sites, which he described as involving broad internal debate focused on weighing advantages and risks. Kent gave additional details in a separate interview with Tucker Carlson, another conservative critic of the war. Shortly after his resignation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation opened an investigation against Kent for alleged leaks of classified information, according to source articles.

White House rejects Kent's account as the death toll passes 2,000 The White House rejected Kent's accusations, with Karoline Leavitt stating that his resignation letter contained "falsehoods" and that he had not been involved in the discussions that preceded the war, according to a CNN report cited in source articles. The broader conflict, which began on February 28 when the United States and Israel launched strikes against Iran, has now killed more than 2,000 people, most of them in Iran and Lebanon, according to source articles. The U.S.-Israel military operation against Iran, designated Operation Epic Fury, began on February 28, 2026. The initial strikes killed Ali Khamenei, Iran's longtime Supreme Leader. His son, Mojtaba Khamenei, was appointed Supreme Leader on March 9, 2026. Iran responded to the initial strikes by attacking Gulf neighbors, according to source articles. The Marines now being deployed are expected to replace an earlier contingent that was rapidly sent to the region from Japan last week, a military official said. The USS Boxer amphibious assault ship group, which will carry the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, could take several weeks to reach its destination in the Middle East. Trump's public statements have simultaneously denied any intention to commit ground forces while preserving maximum flexibility, a posture that military analysts and administration critics have noted leaves the door open for rapid escalation. The combination of Pentagon planning for detention operations, the deployment of rapid-reaction ground forces, and Trump's own ambiguous public statements has intensified scrutiny of the administration's war aims and its ultimate objectives in Iran.

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