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After killing 49 leaders: Trump won't rule out US ground troops, warns that 'the big' strikes in Iran are still coming

On March 2, 2026, All Israel News published After killing 49 leaders: Trump won't rule out US ground troops, warns that 'the big' strikes in Iran are still coming. The article says President Donald Trump and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth would not rule out U.S. ground troops in Iran. Trump is quoted refusing the line other presidents use, that there will be no boots on the ground. For an American family, that is an open door. It is not news that troops have already gone into 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 No Boots on the Ground; the full article index lists every article on this shelf.

Evidence rating: MODERATE. The claim is that the President and his Defense Secretary would not promise to keep Americans out of a ground war, as All Israel News quotes them on 2 March 2026.

What the article says​

The article says that on Monday, both Trump and Hegseth said they would not rule out ground troops in Iran. Trump, it says, also warned that the heaviest part of the campaign was still ahead. It quotes him telling CNN, "We haven't even started hitting them hard. The big wave hasn't even happened. The big one is coming soon." That line is about further strikes. The article places it next to the ground-troop comments. He also told CNN, the article says, that he had always thought the operation would last four weeks, and that it would go on for at least another month.

In a New York Post interview, the article says, Trump was not ruling out U.S. ground troops "if they were necessary."

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.

Trump said that, All Israel News reported on March 2, 2026. "Yips" means a sudden loss of nerve. Hegseth, the article says, likewise declined to "go into the exercise of what we will or will not do" when asked about ground troops.

The article reports other comments. It says Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called the work ahead something that would take time and, in some cases, be "difficult and gritty." It says Trump told Fox News that Supreme Leader Khamenei was among 49 Iranian leaders who had been "taken out." That is Trump's account, as the article reports it.

Hegseth is quoted saying this is not a "regime change war," but that "the regime sure did change." He praises Israeli forces as partners and says there would be no nation-building quagmire and no "politically correct wars." He also says an effort of this scope will include casualties. Those lines are about how he describes the war. They are not a statement that U.S. infantry are in Iran.

Status: Donald Trump is alive. Pete Hegseth is alive.

What other reporting adds​

Hegseth's full answer. 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).

The cost already counted that day. On the Senate floor the same day, Senator Tammy Baldwin, a Wisconsin Democrat, said: "Six American servicemembers are now dead. My heart absolutely breaks for their parents, their siblings, their children, their spouses, and their communities." (Congressional Record, as captured; research capture: twitter/t52__v622.md).

A senator from Trump's party, a day earlier. Senator Lindsey Graham said on NBC's Meet the Press: "There will be no American boots on the ground. This is not Iraq. This is not Germany. This is not Japan." (Newsweek, 2 March 2026; research capture: twitter/t52__v618.md). So within two days, a Republican senator promised "no boots," and the president said he would not make that promise.

What it shows​

From the first days, the President refused to say "no boots on the ground." The door he left open was walked through step by step: CBS's report of detailed ground preparations on 20 March, the Washington Post's report of weeks of ground operations on 28 March, the arrival of Marines and the 82nd Airborne, and more than 90 Americans on Iranian soil in April. See No Boots on the Ground and The Buildup.

Check it yourself​

Last Updated: 2026-09-26

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