Did you know that Truthout is a nonprofit and independently funded by readers like you? If you value what we do, please support our work with a donation.

A report late Friday that U.S. President Donald Trump is more bullish in private about putting American soldiers on the ground in Iran than he has been publicly stirred immediate condemnation among lawmakers opposed to the illegal military attack, now entering its second week of destructive and deadly operations.

“This is madness,” declared Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) in response to NBC News reporting, which cited unnamed sources familiar with the conversations, that stated Trump “has privately expressed serious interest in deploying US troops on the ground inside of Iran.”

While the White House pushed back on the contents of the reporting, Trump himself has said that he does not hold reservations about deploying ground troops if he deems it necessary.

“I don’t have the yips with respect to boots on the ground,” Trump told the New York Post on Monday. “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.’”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) also reacted to the new reporting.

Report: CENTCOM Suggests Trump’s War in Iran Will Likely Last Through September

“Donald Trump is hellbent on escalating his reckless war and is now considering........

© Truthout