“President Trump’s scope to escalate military action against Iran is set to widen within days, as a third aircraft carrier and thousands of elite US troops approach the region,” the Financial Times reports.

“While the president said on Tuesday he would extend his ceasefire with Iran, the US military has been pressing on with deployments to the Middle East that significantly expand its capabilities.l

“Trump said on Tuesday that the US and Israel had used the pause in their weeks-long air campaign against Iran to restock and that he was ‘ready to go’ if the attempts to broker an end to the war collapsed.”

President Trump announced Tuesday that the U.S. will extend its cease-fire with Iran and continue the blockade of the country’s ports until its leaders could present “a unified proposal,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

New York Times: “It was a starkly different tone from the American president, who just this morning had threatened a military attack if Iran did not agree to U.S. demands.”

Said Trump just this morning: “I expect to be bombing. The military is raring to go.”

New York Times: “After halting a U.S. resettlement program for Afghans who helped the American war effort, President Trump is in talks to send as many as 1,100 of them to the Democratic Republic of Congo, an aid worker briefed on the plan said Tuesday.”

“The group includes interpreters for the U.S. military, former members of the Afghan Special Operations forces and family members of American service members. More than 400 children are among them.”