President Trump attacked as “fake news” a report Tuesday saying the Defense Department revised plans for sending up to 120,000 troops to the Middle East, should Iran attack American forces or speed up its work on nuclear weapons.
The New York Times report said acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan presented the updated plan at the behest of Mr. Trump’s national security adviser, John R. Bolton.
“Would I do that? Absolutely, but we have not planned for that,” Mr. Trump said. “Hopefully, we’re not going to have to plan for that. And if we did that, we’d send a hell of a lot more troops than that.”
Mr. Trump commented as he departed the White House for a tour of a liquified natural gas terminal in Louisiana.
The White House is increasing pressure on the regime in Tehran.
It designated Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as terrorists. It announced sanctions against countries that import oil from Tehran, and it dispatched American aircraft carrier and bomber task force to the Middle East to counter reports of growing threats from neighboring Iran.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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