WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is deploying the USS Tripoli and thousands of military service members to the Middle East after President Trump vowed Friday to unleash “unparalleled firepower” on the “deranged scumbags” leading Iran.
The deployment of the amphibious assault ship comes as the American military admits it’s currently unable to break Iranian influence over the vital Strait of Hormuz as global oil prices spike.
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The expected two-week voyage from East Asia matches Energy Secretary Chris Wright’s prediction of reopening the crucial waterway. “by the end of the month”.
The repositioning of the Tripoli, which resembles an aircraft carrier but is smaller and operates closer to shore, was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
The precise scale of the deployment is unclear.
The Journal reported that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth authorized the use of an “element of an amphibious ready group and attached Marine expeditionary unit, typically consisting of several warships and 5,000 Marines and sailors.”
Fox News chief national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin confirmed the deployment, but reported that approximately 2,500 Marines are part of the repositioning.
The Japan-based Tripoli was spotted sailing alone south of Taiwan on Thursday, the US Naval Institute reported — leaving it unclear whether it will be joined by the USS San Diego and USS New Orleans, large ships known as amphibious transport docks that comprise the Tripoli Amphibious Ready Group.
Similar naval deployments foreshadowed the opening salvo of the Iran war on Feb. 28.
The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group arrived in the Arabian Sea south of Iran in late January, and the USS Gerald R. Ford departed the Greek island of Crete for the eastern Mediterranean Feb. 26, two days before the initial attack.
The Trump administration’s prior military missions featured an element of surprise — including deceptions about the likely timeframe before the president ordered an attack on three Iranian nuclear sites this past June.
After Trump ordered the daring Jan. 3 US special forces raid on Caracas to arrest socialist strongman Nicolas Maduro, he said that the armada offshore was a hint about what was coming.
In addition to reopening the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20% of the world’s petroleum flows, officials reportedly studied seizing Iran’s Kharg Island, the loading site for about 90% of the Islamic Republic’s oil exports.
Trump told Fox News Radio in an interview that aired Friday that Kharg Island was not currently a priority — but that his mind could change.
“It’s not high on the list, but it’s one of so many different things, and I can change my mind in seconds,” Trump told host Brian Kileamde. “I can’t answer a question like that … You shouldn’t be even asking it.”
The two-week conflict hasn’t impacted the island, with Iran exporting more fuel than before the war started, the Journal reported Tuesday
The Pentagon declined to confirm the Tripoli’s deployment, with an official telling The Post: “Due to operational security, we do not discuss future or hypothetical movements.”Meanwhile, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll confirmed in an interview Friday that his branch of the armed forces had sent 10,000 interceptor drones used against Russian forces in Ukraine to counter Iranian strikes targeting American military positions as well as civilians in Israel and Arab states.
Driscoll told Bloomberg News in an interview that the AI-enabled Merops drones, developed by Project Eagle — a defense venture backed by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt — were sent to the Middle East within five days of the start of Operation Epic Fury.
Merops drones cost about $14,000 to $15,000 each, according to Bloomberg, cheaper than Iran’s notorious Shahed drones, which run at least $20,000 per unit.
“We’re actually on the better end of the cost curve there,” Driscoll told the outlet. “So each time Iran launches one that we are able to take down, they are losing a meaningful amount of money.”
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has offered to assist the US and its Arab partners in shooting down the Iranian drones that have rattled the region, an offer that Trump dismissed in his Fox News Radio interview.
“No, we don’t need their help on drone defense,” he said. “We know more about drones than anybody. We have the best drones in the world, actually.”
