WASHINGTON, March 19 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday suggested he was not looking at deploying soldiers to the Middle East with the Iran war heading toward a fourth week.
"I'm not putting troops anywhere," Trump said in response to a reporter who asked whether he was planning to send more service members to the region. "If I were, I certainly wouldn't tell you. But I'm not putting troops. We will do whatever is necessary."
Trump spoke at the White House during an Oval Office meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
Reuters reported on Wednesday that the Trump administration is considering deploying thousands of U.S. troops to reinforce the Iran operation, citing a U.S. official and three people familiar with the matter.
Thirteen U.S. troops have been killed since Iran launched strikes against U.S. military bases following the start of the conflict on February 28.
(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt and Bhargav Acharya;Editing by David Ljunggren, Chizu Nomiyama and Bill Berkrot)
