The U.S. is sending three Navy amphibious ships and over 2,000 Marines to the Middle East, ABC News reports. The deployment does not automatically mean that troops will be deployed on the ground in Iran. NEW: A Marine expeditionary unit with 2,200 Marines aboard three U.S. Navy amphibious ships is being ordered to the Middle East, according to two U.S. officials. https://t.co/lUw15upy1J — ABC News (@ABC) March 13, 2026 ABC News has more: A Marine expeditionary unit with 2,200 Marines aboard three U.S. Navy amphibious ships is being ordered to the Middle East, according to two U.S. officials. The 31st MEU is permanently deployed to Japan and operates in the INDO-PACOM region, but it is now being ordered to head to the Middle East. Its deployment does not mean that the unit is going to be used as a ground force for use in Iran, but it offers land, amphibious and aviation assets that can be available to military commanders if needed. This particular MEU also includes a squadron of F-35 fighter jets and a squadron of MV-22 tilt rotor Osprey aircraft. “We are totally destroying the terrorist regime of Iran, militarily, economically, and otherwise, yet, if you read the Failing New York Times, you would incorrectly think that we are not winning. Iran’s Navy is gone, their Air Force is no longer, missiles, drones and everything else are being decimated, and their leaders have been wiped from the face of the earth,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “We have unparalleled firepower, unlimited ammunition, and plenty of time – Watch what happens to these deranged scumbags today. They’ve been killing innocent people all over the world for 47 years, and now I, as the 47th President of the United States of America, am killing them,” he added. According to Axios, Trump told G7 leaders in a meeting earlier this week that Iran is “about to surrender.” Scoop: Trump claimed in G7 call that Iran is "about to surrender" https://t.co/t47w2aTZyE — Axios (@axios) March 13, 2026 Axios noted: 24 hours later, Iran’s new supreme leader issued his first public statement vowing to keep fighting. Trump is as confident about the war’s outcome in private as he is in public. But his assessment is colliding with a more complex reality on the ground. The Iranian regime has shown no signs of imminent surrender or collapse — and on Day 14 of the war, is moving to gain more leverage by choking off the Strait of Hormuz. Trump boasted about the results of Operation Epic Fury on the G7 call Wednesday morning, telling allies, “I got rid of a cancer that was threatening us all.” While claiming Iran was about to surrender, he also suggested there were no officials left alive in Tehran with the power to make that decision. “Nobody knows who is the leader, so there is no one that can announce surrender,” Trump said, according to two officials briefed on the call. Watch additional coverage below: