The 79-year-old Republican has long campaigned against decades of US military entanglements in the Middle East, but ordered a large-scale war against Iran starting Saturday.
While so far the assault has focused entirely on aerial attacks by missiles and bombs, Trump refused to rule out sending ground troops – something far riskier in terms of possible casualties.
“I don’t have the yips with respect to boots on the ground,” Trump said, using a golf term for anxiety. “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,'” he told the New York Post in one of numerous brief interviews he has given since launching the Iran operation.
Trump also spoke to CNN on Monday, flagging what he said would be an escalation in the assault on Iran.
“We haven’t even started hitting them hard. The big wave hasn’t even happened,” he told CNN, without elaborating. “The big one is coming soon.”