In a press gaggle on Air Force One, a reporter asked President Trump about the possibility of sending American ground troops into Iran. “What are the circumstances you would send in ground troops? How are you thinking about that?” a reporter asked. “I don’t even want to talk about it now. I don’t think it’s an appropriate question. You know I’m not going to answer it. Could there be? Possibly for very good reasons. It would have to be a very good reason,” Trump responded. “And I would say if we ever did that, they would be so decimated that they wouldn’t be able to fight at the ground level,” he continued. Take a listen: Reporter: “What are the circumstances you would send in ground troops [to Iran]?” President Trump: “I don’t even want to talk about it now. I don’t think it’s an appropriate question. You know I’m not going to answer it. Could there be? Possibly for very good reasons. It would… pic.twitter.com/eudy4jkO4e — RedWave Press (@RedWavePress) March 7, 2026 More from the New York Post: Trump also didn’t rule out using such a force to deal with securing Iranian nuclear material. “We haven’t talked about it. But it was a total obliteration. They haven’t been able to get to it. And at some point maybe we will. That would be a great thing.” He called it “something we could do later” if needed. And as for the length of the mission, Trump was firm. “Whatever it takes,” he said. Trump raised the possibility of additional attacks on large numbers of Iranian military personnel – after firing off a cryptic post Saturday morning mentioning the idea of going after additional “areas and groups of people.” “The military is almost non-existent. If you look, we could hit the military itself very hard, but maybe we will, maybe we won’t. We haven’t made that determination.” Previously, NBC News claimed that Trump privately expressed serious interest in deploying U.S. ground troops into Iran. EXCLUSIVE: Trump has privately shown serious interest in U.S. ground troops in Iran. https://t.co/Ptbl4NTa85 — NBC News (@NBCNews) March 6, 2026 However, the White House pushed back on the report. Newsweek explained: Following the strikes, some Republicans made it clear that the U.S. cannot put boots on the ground in Iran: Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina on Sunday said during an appearance on Meet the Press that the U.S. would not do so, but the following day Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth indicated they would not rule out any options. At the moment, the U.S. has focused mostly on aerial attacks, but Trump told the New York Post on Monday: “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. I say, ‘probably don’t need them,’ [or] ‘if they were necessary.’” Trump allegedly discussed this with aides and Republican officials while outlining a vision for postwar Iran, which includes securing the country’s uranium and ensuring a cooperative new government that would partner with the U.S., echoing developments in Venezuela. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the report is based on “assumptions” from anonymous sources who are “not part of the president’s national security team.” “President Trump always, wisely keeps all options open, but anyone trying to insinuate he is in favor of one option or another proves they have no real seat at the table,” Leavitt said in a statement.