Hegseth: US aims to be ‘unpredictable’ in putting boots on ground in Iran

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday the U.S. military looks “to be unpredictable” in putting American troops on Iranian territory amid speculation of a U.S. ground invasion.

“We’re not going to foreclose any option,” Hegseth said during a Pentagon briefing when asked to respond to criticism from those who support President Trump but don’t want to see U.S. troops on the ground in Iran. 

“You can’t fight and win a war if you tell your adversary what you are willing to do or what you are not willing to do — to include boots on the ground,” he added.

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Hegseth also said he doesn’t understand why Trump’s political base “wouldn’t have faith in his ability to execute.”

“I don’t understand why the base — which they have already, they understand — wouldn’t have faith in his ability to execute,” he said. 

Trump, who ran for president on a platform of ending what he called “forever wars,” has refused to rule out boots on the ground in Iran and has sent competing signals on potential next steps as the military conflict drags on without an obvious endgame in sight.

The U.S. has more than 50,000 troops in the Middle East, with Trump last week ordering 2,000 U.S. paratroopers be deployed to the region, raising concerns in Congress that the country could launch an attack on Iran’s Kharg Island or elsewhere on Iranian territory. 

But recent polling indicates that a ground conflict would be majorly unpopular among Americans, with only 7 percent of respondents in a Reuters/Ipsos survey released last week saying they would support such an escalation. 

The majority of those surveyed, however, about 65 percent, said they believe the Trump administration will eventually launch ground operations. 

In a separate Yahoo News/YouGov poll, nearly 25 percent of people who voted for Trump in 2024 opposed the war.

In a Sunday interview with NewsNation, Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) said he does not believe “there’s a will” among lawmakers for a ground conflict in Iran.

“I know a lot of Republicans don’t support that, and I know all the Democrats don’t support it, so I firmly believe there is room there for it, but I don’t think that now is the time,” Burchett said.

But Hegseth insisted Tuesday that Trump has “internalized” lessons from previous, drawn-out U.S. conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, claiming the president is “not going to repeat those lessons.”

“Our adversary, right now, thinks there are 15 different ways we could come at them with boots on the ground. And guess what? There are,” Hegseth said, adding the U.S. could “execute those options” if needed. 

“Or maybe we don’t have to use them at all,” he continued. “Maybe negotiations work. Or maybe there’s a different approach. The point is to be unpredictable in that, certainly not let anybody know what you’re willing to do or not do.”

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Gen. Dan Caine, who spoke alongside Hegseth, said “the range of military options” that American forces can use is “extensive,” and sending additional troops to the region doesn’t necessarily mean an impending land operation in Iran.

“I wouldn’t want to take away the president’s decision space, but there are a multitude of things, not the least of which is — Iran should note — that they’re out there and that they are a pressure point, and so they should carefully consider, I think, at the diplomatic level … to consider what’s in front of them,” Caine said.

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