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The Trump administration is signaling to allies that it has no immediate plans for a ground invasion of Iran, even as it deploys thousands of troops to the Middle East, people familiar with the matter said. The people, who asked not to be identified discussing private deliberations, cautioned that President Donald Trump could change his mind at any moment or go ahead with an attack. They said the troops could serve a variety of roles, including to help with evacuations of American citizens but also to create a sense of strategic ambiguity about US intentions.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday the US can achieve its objectives in Iran without the use of ground troops but their presence gives Trump options.

“The president has to be prepared for multiple contingencies, which I’m not going to discuss in the media,” Rubio told reporters. “We can achieve all of our objectives without ground troops. But we are always going to be prepared to give the president maximum optionality and maximum opportunity to adjust to contingencies should they emerge.”

A White House official, who requested anonymity to describe internal thinking, said it’s the Pentagon’s job to develop plans to give the president optionality, and noted that Trump has previously said he has no plans to send ground troops anywhere at this time. The official said Iran will be hit harder than ever before if they fail to make a deal.

Today's show features:

• Iain Marlow, Bloomberg News National Security Editor
• Spencer Faragasso, Senior Fellow with the Institute for Science and International Security on Iran's stocks of highly enriched uranium
• Dimitra Kessenides, Bloomberg Businessweek Senior Editor and Professor Angel Saz, Director of EsadeGeo – Centre for Global Economy and Geopolitics, a leading B-school in Spain
• Drive to the Close with Mark Luschini, Chief Investment Strategist, President and Chief Investment Officer, Janney Capital Management

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