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Hegseth says US 'can't stop everything' that Iran fires even as he asserts air dominance
On March 4, 2026, the Associated Press published Hegseth says US 'can't stop everything' that Iran fires even as he asserts air dominance. No byline is printed on the copy that loaded. The page dates the briefing photographs to Wednesday, March 4, 2026, and the story says Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth spoke that Wednesday. Most of the article is about air defense, munitions, and Iranian missiles. The part that matters for this shelf is a direct question about American ground troops in Iran. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs would not answer it. The White House said ground troops were not the plan at that time, and also said the option stayed open. An American family should care because "not at this time" is not the same sentence as "never."
Evidence rating: CONFIRMED. The rating covers the words of Gen. Dan Caine, the nation's top uniformed officer, and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, as the Associated Press reported them from that day's briefings. Caine refused to discuss ground troops; Leavitt said they were not the plan "at this time" and that the option stayed "on the table."
What the article says
The AP reports that Hegseth told reporters at the Pentagon that the United States had spent heavily on air defense for American forces and allies before the offensive, and that this still does not mean every Iranian drone or missile can be stopped. He said the United States and Israel were gaining control of Iran's airspace. The AP says the war had begun the previous Saturday, and that leaders had warned more American casualties were expected.
Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at the same news conference that U.S. service members "remain in harm's way, and we must be clear-eyed that the risk is still high." The AP reports that six soldiers were killed when an Iranian drone hit an operations center in a civilian port in Kuwait, more than 10 miles from the main Army base.
Caine would not discuss sending ground troops into Iran. The AP notes that Trump had not ruled that option out.
"I'm not going to comment on U.S. boots on the ground."
Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at the Pentagon, as reported by the Associated Press, March 4, 2026.
He added, in the same answer: "I think that's a question for policymakers. And I don't make policy, I execute policy."
The AP reports that White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters ground troops were "not part of the plan for this operation at this time." She also said, "I'm not going to remove an option for the president that is on the table."
The rest of the story is about how long the air war might last. Hegseth said it could be three, four, six, or eight weeks, that more fighters and bombers were arriving, and that the military had enough munitions. Caine said Iran was firing far fewer ballistic missiles and one-way drones than in the first days, which could mean Iran was holding weapons back.
What other reporting and posts add
Hegseth's own phrase that day. The New York Times' account of the same Wednesday briefing quoted Hegseth: "We've taken control of Iran's airspace and waterways without boots on the ground." "We control their fate." Caine, the same day: "It's still very early." "But the balance is shifting. We've always got to remember that these operations are complex, dangerous and far from over." The New York Times, Greg Jaffe, 4 March 2026. (capture: twitter/t52__v620.md)
Two days earlier, the same non-answer. The Washington Post led its 2 March briefing story with: "Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday would not rule out the possibility of sending American ground troops to Iran or articulate the Trump administration's exit strategy." The Washington Post, 2 March 2026. (capture: twitter/t56__v668.md)
Three days later, the president's own words went both ways. On 7 March a financial-news account quoted Trump, asked about ground troops: "Could there be? Possibly, for very good reason." @financialjuice, 7 March 2026. (capture: twitter/t50__v597.md) The same week, according to Palestine Chronicle's account of an NBC phone interview, "the president said sending ground troops to Iran would be a waste of time." That is the outlet's paraphrase, not a quoted sentence. Palestine Chronicle, 7 March 2026. (capture: twitter/t50__v590.md)
The Kuwait deaths. The six soldiers killed in this story died at a port in Kuwait, struck by an Iranian drone. A 6 March AI-assistant reply on X, answering a fake photo of "captured" Americans, placed the dead in Kuwait as well; it is a chatbot summary, not a Pentagon release. @grok, 6 March 2026. (capture: twitter/t49__v586.md)
What it shows
Four days into the war, the top general would not answer the ground-troop question and the White House kept the option "on the table." Six American soldiers had already been killed by an Iranian drone at a port in Kuwait: the air war was killing ground troops at their bases from its first week. Within three weeks, CBS reported the Pentagon's "detailed preparations for deploying U.S. ground forces into Iran," and Marine Expeditionary Units and the 82nd Airborne were on their way. "Not at this time" turned out to mean exactly that. See No Boots on the Ground and Pentagon Ground Plans 2026.
Check it yourself
The AP story is at https://apnews.com/article/iran-hegseth-caine-drones-israel-fa3999b365ad4c15c54c7c62940e34d3.
Status: Pete Hegseth is alive. Dan Caine is alive. Karoline Leavitt is alive. Donald Trump is alive.
For a newcomer: this is day five of the US-Israeli air war on Iran, which began on 28 February 2026 (the Pentagon calls its part Operation Epic Fury). Pete Hegseth is the Secretary of Defense; Gen. Dan Caine is Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the most senior officer in uniform; Karoline Leavitt is the White House press secretary. In the first week, all three were asked, again and again, whether American soldiers would be sent into Iran. Their answers are the baseline for everything that came later.
Research captures: twitter/t52__v620.md, twitter/t56__v668.md, twitter/t50__v597.md, twitter/t50__v590.md, twitter/t49__v586.md
Last Updated: 2026-09-26