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Trump: U.S. Will Respond 'Shortly' to Iranian Attack on Haifa Oil Refinery

On March 30, 2026, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz published Trump: U.S. Will Respond 'Shortly' to Iranian Attack on Haifa Oil Refinery. The deck says Wall Street Journal sources reported the night before that President Donald Trump was considering a ground invasion to seize Iran's uranium. The body sentence that loaded is about a different point: a coming U.S. response to an Iranian attack on Israel's largest oil refinery, in Haifa. An American family should care because a ground operation to seize uranium would put U.S. soldiers inside Iran.

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 Kharg Island and the Uranium Raid; the full article index lists every article on this shelf.

Evidence rating: MODERATE. Haaretz's deck and a Ynet report opened for this page both trace the idea to unnamed US officials talking to The Wall Street Journal. They agree the President was considering putting Americans on Iranian soil to take the uranium. Haaretz's deck calls it a "ground invasion"; Ynet calls it an operation lasting days or longer.

What the article says​

The deck says Trump wrote earlier Monday that Washington was in talks with "A NEW, AND MORE REASONABLE, REGIME," and that "Great progress has been made." It says that post came after sources told The Wall Street Journal on Sunday night that he was considering a ground invasion to seize Iran's uranium. Uranium here means the enriched nuclear material Iran already holds. Seizing it would mean taking it, not only bombing the buildings above it.

he was considering a ground invasion to seize Iran's uranium

Haaretz wrote that on March 30, 2026, in the deck, attributing it to Wall Street Journal sources. Those are not Trump's own words on the page.

The body sentence that loaded cites the New York Post. It says that despite the Truth Social lines about a new and more reasonable regime and about great progress, Trump warned that a response to Iran's attack on Israel's largest oil refinery was coming "shortly." Haifa is a port city in northern Israel. The refinery is there.

The byline did not fully load. A stray "and" sits where two author names would normally be. The rest of the article was behind a subscription wall. The ground-invasion detail, in the text that could be read, is only in the deck.

What other reporting adds​

The Journal's wording, as quoted the same morning. A digest of US press coverage quoted the Wall Street Journal: "US President Trump is weighing a military operation to extract nearly 1,000 pounds of uranium from Iran, according to U.S. officials cited by the WSJ, a complex and risky mission that would likely put American forces inside the country for days or longer. The president has also encouraged his advisers to press Iran to agree to surrender the material as a condition for ending the war." (@ZackEiseman on X, 30 March 2026; research capture: twitter/t49__v587.md). Nearly 1,000 pounds is about 450 kilograms, close to Ynet's "about 400 kilograms." The Journal wording is "a military operation" lasting "days or longer," which supports Ynet's reading over the Haaretz deck's word "invasion."

Who was pushing for it in public. An X trending page the same weekend showed commentator Mark Levin calling for US ground troops: "We've got to get the uranium." (research capture: twitter/t49__v584.md). Six weeks later, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said on CBS's 60 Minutes: "You go in, and you take it out," and that Trump had told him "'I want to go in there.'" (CBS News transcript, 10 May 2026; research capture: twitter/t13__v145.md).

What it shows​

On the same day Trump posted about "Great progress" with "A NEW, AND MORE REASONABLE, REGIME," Israel's Haaretz told its readers he was considering a ground operation to seize Iran's uranium. The Journal described a mission that "would likely put American forces inside the country for days or longer."

The public message was talks; the planning was American soldiers inside Iran. Six weeks later Netanyahu said on 60 Minutes, "You go in, and you take it out." See Kharg Island and the Uranium Raid and No Boots on the Ground.

Check it yourself​

Status: Donald Trump is alive.

Last Updated: 2026-09-26

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