Trump has privately shown serious interest in U.S. ground troops in Iran: NBC

• Trump privately considers small U.S. troop deployment in Iran for strategic missions, but rules out large-scale invasion.

President Donald Trump has privately discussed the idea of deploying a small contingent of U.S. troops in Iran for specific strategic purposes, according to multiple U.S. officials, but has not focused on a large-scale ground invasion, sources say.

Trump spoke by phone with NBC’s Tom Llamas, responding to recent comments from Iranian officials and mounting questions about how far the United States is prepared to go in the war.

“It’s a waste of time. They’ve lost everything. They’ve lost their navy. They’ve lost everything they can lose,” Trump said, dismissing remarks by Iran’s foreign minister that Tehran was ready for a ground invasion. He emphasized the United States is focused on continuing the air and missile campaign rather than planning a large‑scale ground operation.

Trump’s remarks come as the U.S. and 'Israel' continue Operation Epic Fury, the ongoing military campaign launched last week following joint strikes on Iranian targets, including the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The conflict has widened across the Middle East and triggered significant regional retaliation.

While ruling out near‑term troop deployments, Trump also reiterated a broader strategic goal of removing Iran’s current leadership structure. According to the NBC interview, he said the U.S. wants to “clean out everything” in Tehran and has ideas for what he called a “good leader” to replace the current regime, but did not offer names.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, addressing related speculation earlier this week, said there is currently no plan to send ground troops to Iran, but insisted all options remain “on the table.” She criticized reports based on anonymous sources as uninformed about official deliberations.

Outside experts have said that even limited U.S. troop deployments for specific objectives, such as special operations missions, could dramatically escalate American involvement and risks for U.S. forces. Such scenarios would mark a shift from the predominantly aerial and naval campaign pursued to date.

The war has already taken a toll: U.S. Central Command has reported American casualties from Iranian counter‑attacks, and Gulf allies have voiced frustration over the lack of coordination and increasing instability in the region.