Trump leaves door open for boots on the ground in Iran

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It’s Monday. Welcome back. So much has happened since my last edition on Friday. Whew, let’s get into it.

Trump won’t rule out boots on the ground in Iran

President offers shifting timeline for operation

Stocks drop, oil prices spike

Americans uneasy about Iran strikes

TSA officers to miss first paycheck this week

A lot has changed in the past few hours:

Iranian-backed militias across the Middle East have joined the war, carrying out attacks against American forces and allies across the region on Monday, significantly escalating the widening conflict sparked by the U.S. and Israel’s joint military operation against Iran.

The Pentagon said it would send more U.S. forces to the Middle East.

President Trump told the New York Post today that he wouldn’t rule out sending troops into Iran.

“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 told the New York Post. “I say ‘probably don’t need them,’ [or] ‘if they were necessary.’”

However, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stressed in a fiery press briefing Monday morning it would not be an “endless” war similar to Iraq.

And just now, in his first public event since the Iran strikes, Trump laid out his objective for the U.S. operation. He said he wants to eliminate Iran’s missile capability and ensure the country would not get a nuclear weapon. 💻 Watch Trump’s first public remarks since the operation began

Four U.S. servicemembers have been killed in the U.S. operation that began Saturday. Joint Chief of Staffs Chair Gen. Dan Caine predicted there will be more.

Three U.S. fighter jets were also mistakenly shot down overnight by Kuwait, but all crew members safely ejected.

Back in the U.S., the economy is spooked. The stock market fell and oil prices spiked this morning.

➤ DO AMERICANS BACK THIS MILITARY OPERATION?:

Just 27 percent of Americans back the U.S.’s strikes against Iran, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll. Forty-three percent of respondents disapprove of the strikes and 29 percent are not sure.

And a new Morning Consult poll found that 41 percent of registered voters say the Iran military........

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