Roughly 9,000 sailors and Marines are heading to the Middle East aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group and the Makin Island amphibious group. The deployments could temporarily put three carriers and two amphibious groups in the region, though some arriving forces are intended to replace units already deployed.
Lt. Col. Anthony Aguilar assessed that Israel could strike Iran within days, with or without US participation, and said rhetoric from Trump, Marco Rubio and Pete Hegseth had hardened since Friday’s Camp David talks. Vice President JD Vance chaired that meeting on next steps in the Iran war; Rubio confirmed it Monday and described it as part of the administration’s strategic planning.