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Trump Says Deploying U.S. Ground Forces in Iran 'On the Table'

On 8 March 2026, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz published Trump Says Deploying U.S. Ground Forces in Iran 'On the Table', by Ben Samuels. The part that loaded says President Donald Trump was weighing special forces in Iran to seize nuclear material, and that he told ABC everything was on the table. An American family should care because special forces are still Americans on Iranian ground. "On the table" means the option was being kept ready.

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 claim is that a ground option was being weighed, as Haaretz reported from Trump's remarks. Only the headline, the deck, and the first paragraph loaded; the rest sat behind a subscribe wall.

What the article says​

Haaretz reports that Trump signaled he was weighing special forces in Iran to seize its nuclear stockpile. Special forces are small units trained for a raid or a similar targeted job, not an army sent to hold cities. Haaretz calls that possibility a ground operation. The only words the lead puts in quotation marks from Trump are that he told ABC "everything is on the table."

The deck under the headline, which did load, adds two further points. It says the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations confirmed that the United States has troops and assets focused on seizing weapons of mass destruction if needed and if so ordered. The deck does not name the ambassador. It also says Senator Lindsey Graham urged Arab countries to "get in this fight" and strike Iran.

troops and assets that are focused on seizing weapons of mass destruction if needed and if so ordered

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, as Haaretz's deck reported the confirmation on 8 March 2026. Haaretz did not print the ambassador's name in the text that loaded.

What other reporting adds​

What Trump said the day before, in his own words. Aboard Air Force One on 7 March, asked about ground troops: "Could there be? Possibly, for a very good reason. Have to be a very good reason." (PolitiFact, 9 March 2026; research capture: twitter/t48__v574.md). A week earlier he had told the New York Post: "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." (as quoted by Yahoo News, 2 March 2026; research capture: twitter/t52__v618.md).

And what he said the day after. On about 9 March, an X trending page summarized a New York Post interview: "Trump told the New York Post that the U.S. is nowhere near sending ground forces to Iran, even to secure nuclear materials at the damaged Isfahan facility" (X trending page, updated 9 March 2026; research capture: twitter/t49__v582.md). The two statements, "on the table" and "nowhere near," came within about two days of each other.

The White House press secretary's line that week. Karoline Leavitt, answering NBC's report of Trump's "serious interest" in ground troops, said the story was "based on assumptions from anonymous sources who are not part of the President's national security team and are clearly not read into these discussions," and that the president "always, wisely keeps all options open" (research capture: twitter/t49__v582.md; see also Haaretz: NBC says Trump has serious interest in US ground troops in Iran).

What it shows​

"Everything is on the table" on 8 March 2026 was not idle talk. Two days earlier NBC had reported that Trump had "privately shown serious interest in U.S. ground troops in Iran." Within two weeks CBS reported detailed Pentagon preparations for ground forces, and Marines and paratroopers were on the move. See No Boots on the Ground and Pentagon Ground Plans 2026.

Check it yourself​

Last Updated: 2026-09-26

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