US Deploys 3rd Carrier, Thousands More Troops to Mideast

Washington is quietly moving a lot more hardware into Iran's neighborhood. The Wall Street Journal reports that US officials say a third aircraft carrier strike group and additional Marine ships—bringing roughly 9,000 to 10,000 more troops—are heading to the Middle East by late November, as President Trump weighs resuming airstrikes on Iran after the midterms. The USS Theodore Roosevelt and a Marine amphibious group recently departed California to join carriers George HW Bush and George Washington and other Navy vessels already enforcing a blockade and escorting commercial ships near the Strait of Hormuz.

Officials say the troops on the ships will add to more than 50,000 already in the region, the Journal reports. The buildup comes after Trump rejected Iran's latest short-term ceasefire offer, which included reopening the vital waterway and nuclear talks. The moves deepen strain on a Navy already stretched by long deployments and recent Iranian missile attacks on US ships. Trump said he rejected the ceasefire offer because it wasn't good enough, the AP reports. He also said it's "possible" that bombing will be stepped up after the midterms.

• The war has now lasted more than seven months. In a Truth Social post Thursday, Trump said, "I stated, numerous times, that it would take 4-6 weeks to get rid of THE IRAN NUCLEAR THREAT, and I did it in one night! The rest of the time is just to make sure it stays that way."