BREAKING: US sends 3 warships, thousands more Marines to Middle East

The Pentagon is sending three more warships and thousands more US Marines to the Middle East, marking the second deployment to the region just this week, The Wall Street Journal reports. The new troops, about 2,500 Maines hailing from the USS Boxer amphibious ready group and the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, will be making their way to US Central Command.

This deployment is about three weeks earlier than had been anticipated. When asked, US Central Command declined to comment on the deployment, saying that they "will not speculate on future force posture, or discuss movements that are not in our [area of operation]."

Already in the region are the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group and the USS Gerald R. Ford. After a fire aboard the Ford, however, the ship went to Greece for repairs.

President Trump on Thursday said "No, I'm not putting troops anywhere. If I were, I certainly wouldn't tell you." He went on to say that the US "will do whatever's necessary to keep the price" of oil down.

Earlier this week, 2,200 Marines and sailors headed to the Middle East aboard the USS Tripoli which is based in Japan. The Tripoli was accompanied by two escort ships through the South China Sea.

Thirteen US service members have been killed with another 200 wounded so far in the conflict, called Operation Epic Fury, which began on February 28. When it began, Trump said the expected timeline would be four to five weeks. Since then, US Central Command began to plan for an incursion that would last 100 days or into September.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said on Thursday during a press conference that the US was accomplishing their primary goals. The three goals are destroying Iran's navy, preventing them from getting a nuclear bomb, and destroying the country's defense industrial base.