DONALD Trump is reportedly set to deploy a third aircraft carrier to the Middle East as the president declares the US only has “3,500 targets” left to hit.
The USS George H.W. Bush will be stationed in CENTCOM’s area of responsibility, sources told CBS News.
Once it arrives, officials said the carrier could potentially join ongoing combat operations against Iran.
This latest deployment builds upon an already dominant US military presence in the region.
Two carrier strike groups, led by the USS Gerald R. Ford and the USS Abraham Lincoln, have been in the Middle East since the first days of the Iran war.
This was the case until the Ford suffered a fire aboard, diverting to a naval port in Crete for repairs.
In its absence, the USS Ross deployed from Norfolk, Virginia, on Wednesday.
The USS Donald Cook and USS Mason also departed Florida this week to join Operation Epic Fury.
This comes after Trump revealed the US still has 3,554 targets left to hit in Iran.
Speaking to an audience in Miami, the president said: “That’ll be done pretty quickly.
“And at some point we’re going to have to determine what we do.”
Trump then quipped the hotly-contested Strait of Hormuz should be renamed the Strait of Trump.
“They have to open up the Strait of Hormuz – I mean, Hormuz,” he said.
“Excuse me. Such a terrible mistake.
“The fake news will say, ‘He accidentally said…’ No. There’s no accidents from me.”
Trump’s top diplomat, Marco Rubio, also said he expects the war to end in “weeks, not months”.
He said: “When we are done with them here in the next couple weeks, they will be weaker than they’ve been in recent history.”
Earlier this week, Iran allowed several oil tankers to pass through the blocked shipping lane as a “present” to demonstrate that it is taking peace negotiations seriously.
Trump said Tehran allowed eight “big boats of oil” to pass through, followed by two more later on.
Up until now, Iran has been forcibly preventing US and Israeli-linked ships from passing through the key trade route.
It comes as…
It comes after Trump warned that Iran “better get serious” about agreeing a peace deal.
Taking to Truth Social, Trump wrote: “They better get serious soon, before it is too late, because once that happens, there is NO TURNING BACK, and it won’t be pretty!”
However, Iran’s military denied any peace talks were taking place, and that the US was talking to itself.
Iranian state media said it had rejected Trump’s proposed 15-point peace plan, labelling it “excessive”.
Trump also took the opportunity to criticise Nato for not coming to the US aid in the Strait of Hormuz.
Again on Truth Social, Trump wrote: “NATO NATIONS HAVE DONE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO HELP WITH THE LUNATIC NATION, NOW MILITARILY DECIMATED, OF IRAN.
“THE U.S.A. NEEDS NOTHING FROM NATO, BUT ‘NEVER FORGET’ THIS VERY IMPORTANT POINT IN TIME!”
Last week, he slammed Nato allies as “cowards”, writing: “Without the U.S.A., NATO IS A PAPER TIGER!
“They didn’t want to join the fight to stop a Nuclear Powered Iran.”
“Now that fight is Militarily WON, with very little danger for them, they complain about the high oil prices they are forced to pay, but don’t want to help open the Strait of Hormuz, a simple military maneuver that is the single reason for the high oil prices,” he added.
