President Donald Trump said Saturday that he told the Kurds not to enter the Iran war because it is “complicated enough” without their involvement.
The Kurds, a stateless ethnic group hailing from parts of Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria, have been in conflict with Tehran since before the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Though their interests differ from Washington’s, there had been discussion about them joining the war, as the Washington Examiner previously reported.
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Trump said the United States is “very friendly” with the Kurds but that he had ruled their participation out.
“I don’t want the Kurds going in,” Trump said aboard Air Force One, on his way from Dover, Delaware, to Palm Beach, Florida. “I don’t want to see the Kurds get hurt and killed. they’re willing to go in but i’ve told them I don’t want them going in.”
The president was in Dover to attend the dignified transfer of the remains of the six U.S. service members killed since Operation Epic Fury began a week ago. He called the event “the bad part of war,” although he said watching it did not change his opinion of the war effort.
After initially refusing to answer a question about whether he might send ground troops into Iran, Trump said there “would have to be a very good reason” to do so. While he did not have an update on the timeline of the war, he expressed confidence, calling the Iranian military “nonexistent.”
“We hit their military itself very hard,” Trump said, hours after using similar threatening language in a Truth Social post.
IRAN STILL STRIKING GULF STATES DESPITE PRESIDENT’S PROMISE NOT TO: REPORT
During the gaggle, Trump also brushed off concerns about rising gas prices at home and Russia sharing intelligence with Iran.
“I haven’t had any indication of that whatsoever,” Trump responded to the latter question. “If they are, they’re not doing a very good job because Iran is not doing too well.”