The United States military is deploying thousands of additional Marines and sailors to the Middle East, three U.S. officials told Reuters on Friday.
The deployments of the USS Boxer, along with its 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit and accompanying warship, comes as Reuters reported that President Donald Trump’s administration was considering deploying thousands of U.S. troops to reinforce its operation in the Middle East.
Trump told reporters on Thursday that he was not putting troops “anywhere,” but that if was going to, he would not tell journalists.
The sources, who were speaking on the condition of anonymity, did not say what the role of the additional troops would be.
But one of the officials said the troops were departing the West Coast of the United States about 3 weeks ahead of schedule.
The White House and Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.