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Trump won't rule out boots on the ground in Iran, will do any action 'if necessary'

On March 2, 2026, The Jerusalem Post published Trump won't rule out boots on the ground in Iran, will do any action 'if necessary', by Jerusalem Post Staff. The Post reported that President Donald Trump told the New York Post he would not rule out sending US ground troops into Iran "if necessary." Boots on the ground means American troops on land, not only bombs and ships. An American family should care because a president leaving that door open is news. Within weeks the Pentagon was preparing to.

Background for new readers: On 28 February 2026 the United States and Israel began a joint air war on Iran. The Pentagon calls its part Operation Epic Fury; Israel calls its part Operation Roaring Lion. It came eight months after a shorter war in June 2025, when US bombers hit Iran's nuclear sites at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. The question running through this section is whether the air war turns into American soldiers fighting on Iranian soil. This article is filed under No Boots on the Ground; the full article index lists every article on this shelf.

Evidence rating: MODERATE. The rated claim is that Trump left a ground-troop option open. The Jerusalem Post reported it, and the New York Post interview, opened for this page, supports it.

What the article says​

The Jerusalem Post wrote that Trump "would not rule out sending US ground troops into Iran 'if necessary,'" and that he told the New York Post he was "not ruling anything out." It calls the campaign Operation Roaring Lion. It says that on Monday he said he "didn't care about polling," that leaders sometimes must act without clear public backing, and that the operation was "way ahead of schedule."

The Post quotes a White House speech from the same day:

Today, the United States military continues to carry out large scale combat operations in Iran to eliminate the grave threats posed to America by this terrible terrorist regime.

Donald Trump, White House speech, as quoted by The Jerusalem Post, March 2, 2026. In that speech, as the Post reports it, he listed four aims: destroy Iran's missile capabilities, destroy its navy, keep it from getting a nuclear weapon, and stop it from arming groups outside its borders. Those aims are not a sentence that says "send a ground army."

The Post says Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the campaign would not be "complete overnight," and that it would not become an "endless war." It says US Central Command confirmed B-2 stealth bombers and heavy munitions against reinforced ballistic-missile sites, and confirmed US casualties of three American soldiers killed and five wounded. It also reports Israeli strikes, hundreds of targets, and about 2,500 bombs on roughly 600 targets. That is the air campaign, as the Post describes it, with the ground option left open beside it.

The New York Post interview that the Jerusalem Post is summarizing was opened for this page. It quotes Trump on March 2, 2026:

I don't have the yips with respect to boots on the ground — like every president says, 'There will be no boots on the ground.' I don't say it.

Donald Trump, to the New York Post, March 2, 2026. That article says he went on to say he says "probably don't need them" or "if they were necessary." The Jerusalem Post's shorter phrase "if necessary" is its summary, not that longer wording. The New York Post calls the campaign Operation Epic Fury. The Jerusalem Post calls it Operation Roaring Lion. The two names are what those two articles use for the fighting they describe.

The New York Post also reported that Hegseth said at a Pentagon press conference that morning that no American troops were then inside Iran, and that he did not rule the possibility out. It quotes him: "You don't have to roll 200,000 people in there and stay for 20 years." That is a rejection of a huge, long occupation. It is not a promise that no soldier will ever go.

What other reporting adds​

Hegseth's full answer that morning. Asked whether the United States had ground troops in Iran, Hegseth said: "No, but we're not going to go into the exercise of what we will or will not do. I think it's one of those fallacies for a long time that this department or presidents or others should tell the American enemies, by the way, here's exactly what, here's exactly how long we'll go, here's exactly how far we'll go, here's what we're willing to do and not do—it's foolishness." (as reported by Yahoo News, 2 March 2026; research capture: twitter/t52__v618.md).

Polling and the president. Journalist Kyle Anzalone quoted the same New York Post interview, including Trump's line: "I think that the polling is very good, but I don't care about polling. I have to do the right thing. I have to do the right thing. This should have been done a long time ago." Anzalone set it next to a Reuters poll he said found only one in four Americans supported the president's decision shortly after the war began (research capture: twitter/t50__v598.md).

Congress answered the same day. A Threads account under Senator Patty Murray's name, a Washington Democrat, shared the New York Post headline and wrote: "If Trump won't rule out boots on the ground, then Congress needs to." "NO BOOTS ON THE GROUND." "NO WAR WITH IRAN." (Threads, 2 March 2026; the capture notes the handle matches her but the account was not verified; research capture: twitter/t50__v598.md).

What it shows​

On 2 March 2026 the President told the New York Post he did not have "the yips" about boots on the ground, and would send them "if they were necessary." Hegseth said no troops were in Iran that morning. The option stayed open and was built out: CBS reported detailed ground preparations on 20 March, the 82nd Airborne and two Marine units were sent toward Iran, and more than 90 Americans went onto Iranian ground in April. See No Boots on the Ground and The Buildup.

Check it yourself​

Last Updated: 2026-09-26

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