POTUS says he’s ‘nowhere near’ deploying troops to Iran amid murmurs of draft
President Donald Trump diffused online panic over rumors of a resurrected draft amid the conflict with Iran, telling The Post he was “nowhere near” deploying troops
by Summer Lane | March 9, 2026
President Donald Trump says he is “nowhere near” deploying U.S. troops to Iran amid Operation Epic Fury, according to comments he made on Monday to The Post.
“We haven’t made any decision on that,” the president told the outlet. “We’re nowhere near it.”
The president also told The Post that “we haven’t talked about” sending ground troops into Isfahan – a major urban and cultural hub in Iran – despite other media outlets suggesting that such an option has been under consideration.
The president’s comments come after fears arose over the weekend regarding the possibility of bringing back the Selective Service System, more commonly known as “the draft.”
When asked about the possibility of such an option, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed to Fox News’s Maria Bartiromo that, yes, the majority of the campaign against Iran had been air strikes so far.
“It has been, and it will continue to be, and President Trump, wisely, will not remove options off of the table,” Leavitt said. “I know a lot of politicians like to do that quickly, but the president, as Commander-in-Chief, wants to continue to assess the success of this military operation.”
Leavitt added, “[The draft is] not part of the current plan right now, but the president, again, wisely keeps his options on the table.”
Former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene – once a longtime Trump ally – blasted the secretary’s refusal to commit to deploying troops to Iran.
“How about the answer is NO DRAFT AND NO BOOTS ON THE GROUND because we campaigned on NO MORE FOREIGN WARS OR REGIME CHANGE!!!” she fumed on X.
However, the president has been very clear in his comments thus far that his administration is not actively seeking to deploy ground troops to Iran.
Additionally, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth noted wisely on 60 Minutes, “President Trump knows, I know: you don’t tell the enemy, you don’t tell the press, you don’t tell anybody what your limits would be on an operation. We’re willing to go as far as we need to in order to be successful.”
According to the Military Selective Service Act, American males ages 18 to 25 must register with the Selective Service System. In 2024, the U.S. House passed a measure that would automatically register eligible young men into the SSS.
