President Trump Says He Won't Rule Out Sending US Troops Into Iran

President Donald Trump told multiple outlets he supports the recent U.S. airstrikes on Iran.

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Al Arabiya English

He said he would not rule out sending American ground troops "if necessary," acknowledged U.S. casualties were to be expected, and said the operation was progressing.

Anadolu Ajansı

In interviews he framed the strikes as an action he felt was required, saying "I have to do the right thing."

He said the action "should have been done a long time ago."

He described the campaign as "ahead of schedule" and accepted that losses "could happen" in a conflict of this scale.

Several outlets report U.S. and Israeli officials, and President Trump in interviews, have characterized the strikes as targeting Iran’s top leadership.

The reports said the strikes caused the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and dozens of senior figures.

CBS News

CBS and other reports said, "The initial U.S.-Israeli strike killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and about 40 other senior officials."

President Trump repeatedly told interviewers the strikes "took out their entire leadership," saying 48 figures were hit.

These accounts differ on the number killed, with CBS reporting about 40 other senior officials and President Trump saying 48 figures were eliminated.

The military campaign has produced immediate casualties and wider regional escalation.

U.S. forces suffered fatalities and serious injuries.

Strikes and counterstrikes have hit Lebanon, Israel and other theaters.

The Pentagon and reporting note 'three U.S. troops were killed' and that 'three unidentified US service members were killed and five seriously wounded during the strikes,' while Lebanon's Health Ministry said Israeli strikes 'killed at least 31 people and wounded 149'.

NPR and CBS report Iranian missile strikes and rocket salvos caused deaths and damage near Jerusalem and prompted diplomatic and security alerts across the region.

President Trump set an optimistic, short timetable for the campaign and suggested outside partners could be involved even as some regional governments made no public confirmations.

He told the Daily Mail the effort would run 'four weeks — or less,' and elsewhere said it could run 'four to five weeks.'

CNN

Several outlets recorded him saying the operation was 'a four-week process' or that he expected the military campaign to last about four weeks.

Trump also suggested, without public confirmation from Riyadh, that Saudi Arabia was already 'fighting' alongside the coalition and expressed hopes the campaign might open a path to democratic change in Iran.

Trump’s language has been strongly escalatory and framed the operation in stark geopolitical terms while courting domestic political narratives.

“CNN's Jake Tapper reports that President Donald Trump said the US is "ahead of schedule" on the military operation in Iran in a phone call Monday morning”

CNN

He described Iran as "a nation that’s been run by crazy people," claimed a "silent majority" would back tough action, and told outlets he "has to do the right thing."

Daily Sabah

Related reporting records menacing rhetoric in the broader debate, with The Hill noting warnings of a "global catastrophe" and past threats to "blow Iran to smithereens."

The Guardian and others say Trump remained noncommittal about wider aims such as supporting an uprising, saying he might pause strikes if negotiations produced acceptable results.