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U.S. President Donald Trump stated on Tuesday, March 3, that Iran was running out of missile launchers and that U.S. defense companies were under emergency orders to build weaponry, even as Democratic senators emerged from classified briefings warning the conflict could require "American boots on the ground."
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In a roughly four-minute phone call with Politico, Trump argued that Tehran's military capacity was being steadily degraded, even as Iranian forces are expected to "keep lobbing missiles for a while."
"They're running out, and they're running out of areas to shoot them, because they're being decimated," Trump said, adding that "they're running out of launchers."
Trump stated the United States has ample ammunition to sustain the campaign.
"We have unlimited amounts of the middle, and upper-middle ammunition and things. We save it, and we build it," he said.
"The defense companies are on a rapid tear to build the various things we need. They're under emergency orders. We're making it fast," Trump added, noting that, "But we have unlimited, as stupid as Biden was, he didn't use it."
During a separate meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the White House, Trump denied that Israel forced his hand into launching strikes.
"No, I might have forced their hand," he said, adding that "my opinion was that they were going to attack first. If we didn't do it, they were going to attack first."
Trump said Iran had been hit severely, with its air defense systems, navy, and numerous weapons systems destroyed. "We have unlimited middle- and upper-level munitions in this war, truly unlimited ammunition," he said.
He also said he would be open to engaging with a reconfigured Iranian government.
Asked whether it was too late to consider working with someone in a new government, Trump replied: "Nope, not too late. Forty-nine senior Iranian leaders were killed, don't forget, so that goes pretty deep, right? New ones are emerging. A lot of people want the job. Some of them would be very good."
Asked about the worst-case scenario, Trump said: "The worst case would be doing this and then having someone as bad as the previous person take over. That could happen, but we don't want it to."
Democratic senators emerged from classified briefings with senior administration officials voicing alarm about the conflict's trajectory.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal said he was "more fearful than ever" that American forces could be deployed to Iran.
"I am more fearful than ever after this briefing that we may be putting boots on the ground and that troops from the United States may be necessary to accomplish objectives that the administration seems to have," Blumenthal told reporters.
He said there was a "potential desperate and disastrous shortage of THAAD and Patriot systems that are necessary to protect our embassies, our bases, and our civilians."
Blumenthal added he left the briefing with more questions than answers about priorities, "whether it is destroying the nuclear capacity of Iran or simply the missiles or regime change or stopping terrorist activities."
Sen. Elizabeth Warren said in a video message that the situation was "so much worse than you thought." She called the war "illegal" and "based on lies," adding that Trump "still hasn't given a single clear reason for this war."
Sen. Chris Murphy warned: "They told us in that room that there are going to be more Americans who are going to die."
He called for a Senate debate on authorizing military force, saying lawmakers should not proceed with other legislation before debating what he called a "deeply unpopular, immoral and illegal war."
Rep. Jason Crow said, "It's very clear that this is a war of choice by President Donald Trump. There was no imminent threat against the American people, against American facilities, or against persons."
The joint U.S.-Israeli attacks came as talks between the United States and Iran over Iran's nuclear program had been ongoing under Oman's mediation, with a round of talks in Geneva ending Thursday.
Nearly 800 people have been killed in Iran since strikes began Saturday, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and top military officials.
Six U.S. service members have been killed so far.
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