The Trump Administration is considering deploying thousands of additional combat troops to the Middle East as the military prepares options for the next phase of the ongoing Iran War. One option being discussed for securing the Strait of Hormuz includes deploying U.S. troops to the coastline of Iran, sources tell Reuters.

U.S. President Donald J. Trump, accompanied by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Dan Caine, seen leaving the White House earlier today aboard Marine One, bound for Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, to participate in the dignified transfer of the six airmen and officers who were killed in last week’s crash of a U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker in Western Iraq. This was President Trump’s second dignified transfer and the third carried out at Dover in the last three weeks, since the start of combat operations against Iran. At the request of the families, no photographs or videos were supposed to be taken of the transfer at Dover.

Following contradictory statements by several outlets on Joe Kent, attributed to senior officials in the Trump Administration, CBS News is now reporting that the FBI is investigating Former National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent in connection with alleged leaks of classified information, with the investigation alleged to have going on prior to his resignation, being conducted by the FBI’s Criminal Division.

Contrary to reports from Axios, U.S. President Donald J. Trump states that the United States “knew nothing” about Wednesday’s attack by Israel against Iran’s South Pars Gas Field, adding that “Qatar was in no way, shape, or form, involved with it, nor did it have any idea that it was going to happen. Unfortunately, Iran did not know this, or any of the pertinent facts pertaining to the South Pars attack, and unjustifiably and unfairly attacked a portion of Qatar's LNG Gas facility.”

President Trump states following today’s attack by Israel and retaliatory strikes by Iran, “NO MORE ATTACKS WILL BE MADE BY ISRAEL pertaining to this extremely important and valuable South Pars Field unless Iran unwisely decides to attack a very innocent, in this case, Qatar - In which instance the United States of America, with or without the help or consent of Israel, will massively blow up the entirety of the South Pars Gas Field at an amount of strength and power that Iran has never seen or witnessed before.”

U.S. officials have detected unidentified drones above Fort Lesley J. McNair in Washington, D.C. over the last two weeks, where Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth live, according to three people briefed on the situation who spoke to the Washington Post. Officials have not determined where they came from, two of the people said, though the military is monitoring potential threats more closely because of the heightened alert level due to the Iran War.

Multiple drones were spotted over Fort McNair on a single night in the last 10 days, the official said, prompting increased security measures and a meeting on how to respond at the White House. The drone sightings prompted officials to weigh relocating Rubio and Hegseth, two of the people briefed said. The senior administration official said the secretaries haven’t moved. Their quarters on the base were publicly reported by multiple outlets in October.

Two correspondents, RT’s Steve Sweeney and a cameraman were wounded in an Israeli airstrike this morning on the Al-Qasmiya Bridge over the Litani River in Southern Lebanon.

Recent release from U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) shows additional strikes against Iranian naval vessels, as joint U.S.-Israeli operations continue against Iran.

According to QatarEnergy CEO Saad al-Kaabi, Iran’s attack on the Ras Laffan Indistrial City damaged facilities that produce 17% of Qatar’s LNG export capacity. The statement was made in an interview with Reuters. The damages are expected to take 2-3 years to repair fully.

Reports of a possible ballistic missile impact and a fire now burning at the Haifa Oil Refinery in Northern Israel, following the latest missile attack by Iran.

The United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Japan have released a joint statement expressing their readiness to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure the safe passage of commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

An F-35A/B Lightning ll made an emergency landing at a U.S. air base in the Middle East this week, after it was struck by what is believed to be Iranian surface-to-air fire, according to two sources familiar with the matter who spoke to CNN.

Capt. Tim Hawkins, a Spokesman for U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), said the fifth-generation stealth jet was “flying a combat mission over Iran” when it was forced to make an emergency landing at a base in the Middle East. “The aircraft landed safely, and the pilot is in stable condition,” Hawkins added. “This incident is under investigation.”