By KATELYN CARALLE, SENIOR U.S. POLITICAL REPORTER
Published: | Updated:
Donald Trump is keeping the option of a draft on the table for the conflict in Iran and the prospect is infuriating concerned Americans.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavittwouldn’t rule out that Trump is considering putting troops on the ground in Iran.
‘President Trump wisely does not remove options off of the table. I know a lot of politicians like to do that quickly,’ Leavitt told Fox News host Maria Bartiromo on Sunday.
She insisted, however, that it’s not part of the current plan.
Trump has so far publicly downplayed the option of deploying ground troops, saying he’d only do so ‘if necessary,’ but that it would be a ‘waste of time.’
But at the same time, reports emerged of sources claiming the President has privately expressed ‘serious interest’ in such a deployment.
Leading the outrage over a potential deployment was MAGA-turncoat Marjorie Taylor Greene, who called Leavitt and the rest of the Trump administration ‘liars’ for claiming they didn’t want any more foreign wars.
‘Not my son, over my dead body!!!!!’ the mother-of-three wrote on X.
Marjorie Taylor Greene led outrage on social media over Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt refusing to rule out a US draft for the conflict in Iran
So far US operations in Iran have been conducted by air with no boots deployed to the ground in the ongoing conflict. Pictured: Smoke rises over oil depot tanks hit by Israeli-US strikes in Tehran, Iran on March 8, 2026
Others responded to the post saying that if a draft were to happen, Trump’s youngest son Barron, 19, should be the first in line.
‘It’s easier to send strangers to die than your own blood,’ a social media user wrote. ‘He should draft his sons and daughters first.’
One proposed: ‘Here’s the deal!! It’s time we have this discussionIf our government wants to wage war then it should be their children sent to the front line first.’
Another X post stated that Leavitt’s comments ‘should be the final wake-up call for every parent who voted’ for Trump.
‘They campaigned on your kitchen table, and now they want your children. NOT my son. NOT my daughter. Over every dead body in Washington before theirs. This is the line,’ they added.
Others pointed out how Trump dodged the draft in 1968 after a physical that determined he should receive a medical deferment for bone spurs in his heels.
Bartiromo noted that ‘mothers are worried’ there would be a draft that takes their sons to war.
‘It’s not part of the current plan right now, but the President, again, wisely keeps his options on the table,’ Leavitt reiterated.
She said that Trump ‘wants to continue to assess the success of this military operation’ before making a decision on the matter of ground troops.
The last time that the US conducted a draft was in the early to mid-1970s for the highly controversial US involvement in the Vietnam War.
Despite no active draft, men between the ages of 18 and 25 are still required to register with the Selective Service System should one be activated. There have been multiple proposals to also add young women to the draft, but none that have passed into law.
President Trump has not ruled out deploying troops inside Iran, but has said doing so would be ‘a waste of time.’ Pictured: Trump salutes at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on March 7, 2026 during the dignified transfer of six US Army soldiers who died in the Iran conflict
Leavitt’s Sunday remarks reiterated her comments from Wednesday where she said at the press briefing that deployment isn’t ‘part of the plan for this operation at this time.’
‘I will never take away military options for the Commander-in-Chief,’ she added. ‘He wisely does not do the same for himself.’
Many conservative voices in media, like Tucker Carlson and Megyn Kelly, have boisterously expressed their opposition to ground troops and their outrage over the conflict with Iran in general.
Democrat John Fetterman, who has shown his willingness to go across the aisle when it comes to supporting Israel, is all-in on Trump’s war against Iran.
His one exception is deployment: ‘My red line is no boots on the ground in Iran,’ the Pennsylvania Senator told the Daily Mail on a phone call Friday.