12:30 Report Trump leaves door open for boots on the ground in Iran by Cate Martel - 03/02/26 12:38 PM ET by Cate Martel - 03/02/26 12:38 PM ET Share ✕ LinkedIn LinkedIn Email Email NOW PLAYING 12:30 Report is The Hill’s midday newsletter. Subscribe here . 96 🪖 Plus: Hegseth’s fiery press conference on Iran {beacon} It’s Monday. Welcome back. So much has happened since my last edition on Friday. Whew, let’s get into it.   In today’s issue: 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   🪖 IRAN OPERATION 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 operation was necessary , while 42 percent say it was not.   How long does Trump plan to strike Iran?: AP Photo/Alex Brandon Senior military officials on Monday defended Trump’s strategy launching a high-stakes attack on Iran, which has sparked widespread escalation throughout the Middle East teetering on full-scale war. Trump, who for weeks teased the broad military campaign against the regime in Tehran, launched  Operation Epic Fury  from his Mar-a-Lago resort,  dubbed his makeshift Situation Room . The president has taken an unconventional approach to the start of the conflict. While U.S. presidents typically announce major international operations during live addresses to the nation, Trump instead released a video on Truth Social in the early morning hours of Saturday announcing the joint U.S.-Israeli operation. The president  posted another six-minute video to his Truth Social account on Sunday afternoon, more than a day and a half after the operation started. Trump took phone calls from individual reporters seeking answers about his strategy and timeline on behalf of the American people. But the first in-person update came from Hegseth and Caine on Monday morning, roughly 57 hours into the operation. The president has spoken to at least 10 news outlets by phone since Saturday. Here’s what we know so far: How long does Trump expect this military operation to last? : When Trump spoke to an Axios reporter on Saturday , he suggested the military campaign may only take “two or three days.” But then on Sunday, he told The Daily Mail that “it has always been a four-week process” and he told The New York Times he expects it to last roughly “four to five weeks.” “We’re already substantially ahead of our time projections,” Trump maintained during a White House Medal of Honor ceremony late Monday morning where he repeated the four-to-five-week estimate. What is Trump’s goal? : Trump has swung between two objectives: regime change and ending Iran’s nuclear ambitions. He told The Washington Post on Saturday that his goal is “freedom for the people.” He then told The Atlantic on S