Nancy Mace questions need for US ground troops, says Trump can ‘declare victory’ in Iran conflict

WASHINGTON, DC:  Rep Nancy Mace (R-SC) emerged from a closed-door House Armed Services Committee briefing on the Iran conflict and voiced reservations about any escalation involving American ground troops.

In a subsequent CNN interview, she argued that President Donald Trump has already achieved sufficient success to “declare victory” without committing boots on the ground.

Nancy Mace 'not convinced' troops on the ground are necessary

Mace consistently backed the joint US-Israeli airstrikes that began on February 28, but has drawn a hard line against a larger ground campaign. She told CNN she left the briefing unconvinced that additional forces were required. 

“I was not convinced when I walked out of there that troops on the ground were necessary to declare victory. I believe President Trump can declare victory now,” she said. 

Her comments come as the Pentagon seeks roughly $200 billion in supplemental funding for the operation, which has already cost more than $11.3 billion in the first six days and is now approaching $1 billion daily.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has defended the request, telling lawmakers it “takes money to kill the bad guys."

Nancy Mace raises concerns over seizing Kharg Island

Mace specifically questioned the strategic logic of targeting Kharg Island, Iran’s primary oil-export terminal in the Persian Gulf, which administration officials and some allies have floated as a potential objective for air or naval action to choke off Tehran’s revenue.

“I have a hard time understanding what Kharg Island has to do with some of our objectives and thinking through and wargaming through what the consequences of taking Kharg Island might mean,” she told CNN. “It might mean that there are entire countries in the Middle East that don’t have water.”

She also noted that external support for Iran could prolong the fight. “We’re doing all of this with the knowledge that Russia is aiding Iran. China is aiding Iran,” Mace said. “And so, you know, to do this in a more protracted manner, to put troops on the ground, then they’re going to have to come to Congress and convince us that it is the right thing to do.”

The briefing itself exposed what the South Carolina political described as a troubling disconnect. She took to X (formerly Twitter) immediately afterward and wrote, “Just walked out of a House Armed Services Briefing on Iran. Let me repeat: I will not support troops on the ground in Iran, even more so after this briefing."

She added that “the justifications presented to the American public for the war in Iran were not the same military objectives we were briefed on today,” calling the gap “deeply troubling” and warning that prolonged fighting would erode congressional and public support.

Nancy Mace's repeated opposition to ground troops

Mace has been vocal for weeks. She previously said she would vote against any funding bill that included ground troops. “If a single boot of a single American soldier sets foot on Iranian soil, I will vote against this. I will not vote to fund sending South Carolina’s sons and daughters to die in a ground war in Iran," she wrote.

She also publicly clashed with Sen Lindsey Graham (R-SC) after he pushed for seizing Kharg Island. She demanded Graham “needs to be removed from the Situation Room” and accused him of pushing “our sons and daughters into war on the ground in Iran” without fully considering the costs.

The Trump administration has denied plans for a full ground invasion but has accelerated deployments of Marines and elements of the 82nd Airborne Division to the region. Reports indicate contingency planning for securing the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly one-fifth of global oil passes. 

Meanwhile, Trump maintains that the military campaign has severely degraded Iran’s nuclear capabilities and military infrastructure.