‘Normal people would make a deal. Smart people would make a deal,’ the president says.
President Donald Trump said Sunday that he is not ruling out sending U.S. ground troops to Iran if Tehran does not make a deal over reopening the Hormuz Strait by a Tuesday deadline.
“No,” Trump told The Hill in a phone interview when he was asked if he would rule out sending ground troops to Iran, also saying that no civilian infrastructure targets would be ruled out.
“Normal people would make a deal. Smart people would make a deal,” the president said. “If they were smart they would make a deal.”
Earlier in the day, Trump issued a stark warning on Truth Social that “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran“ before calling on the regime to open the Hormuz Strait. ”Or you’ll be living in Hell,” he added.
Also on Sunday, he posted a separate post on Truth Social, only saying: “Tuesday, 8:00 P.M. Eastern Time.”
Since the start of the conflict, the U.S. and Israeli militaries have primarily launched aerial strikes on targets inside Iran. So far, no ground troops have been deployed to the country, although Trump has said on multiple occasions over the past month that he is not ruling out the possibility.
Iranian officials on Sunday said they would retaliate if any civilian infrastructure is hit by the United States or Israel. There have been no public indications that members of the regime would be willing to make a deal over reopening the Hormuz Strait following Trump’s comments over the weekend.
Tehran is demanding an end to hostilities, and its parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf condemned Trump’s threats on Sunday, saying he was being led by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Your reckless moves are dragging the United States into a living HELL for every single family, and our whole region is going to burn because you insist on following Netanyahu’s commands,” he wrote in a post on X.
Previously, Iran has attacked or warned it would attack civilian facilities and businesses in the Middle East, including last week when the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said it would launch attacks on U.S. tech companies, including Google, Microsoft, and Meta.
