Trump sends 5,000 marines to Middle East with a warning: ‘I’ll finish this conflict after I really feel it in my bones, okay?’

A defiant Donald Trump has vowed that the war will end ‘when I feel it’ as Iran continued to attack its neighbours.

For the first time since the conflict began, the US will move ‘boots on the ground’ with as many as 5,000 US Marines deploying to the Middle East from Japan.

The US President said he would make a personal decision when to curtail the conflict as drone strikes targeted Dubai‘s financial district.

With the fighting spreading global economic uncertainty, the administration is coming under increasing pressure to set a deadline.

Last night cracks were emerging in Western alliances with Germany criticising US policy, while France and Italy began talks with Iran to allow their ships through the Strait of Hormuz.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz criticised the White House‘s decision to relax sanctions against Russian energy products. The US move, in response to Iran’s blockade of the Strait, could add $10billion (£7.5billion) to Russia’s war chest.

Anxiety around how Vladimir Putin is benefiting from the conflict is also behind British calls for de-escalation.

Facing questions on when the war might end, Mr Trump told Fox News that it would be ‘when I feel it, okay? I feel it in my bones’.

In a separate interview, the President paid tribute to his country’s military, saying that while this was ‘a war for Iran’ the conflict was more of ‘an excursion for the US’.

He said: ‘It has been incredible. The job they have done. I would say, to put it mildly, way ahead of schedule. We’ve knocked out [Iran’s] navy, their military.

‘We’ve knocked out just about everything there is, including their leadership.

‘The market is holding up well. We were hit a little bit but probably by less than I thought. We will be back on track in a pretty short while. Prices are coming down very substantially. Oil will be coming down.

‘For us it’s turned out to be easier than we thought. They have no radar. Their leaders are gone. We are leaving certain things, they would never be able to build that country back.’

With Iran’s air defences entirely eliminated, US and Israeli jets can cruise over the country and drop munitions with impunity.

Domination of the skies has accelerated the tempo of operations, with War Secretary Pete Hegseth saying there was a 20 per cent increase yesterday.

But the Pentagon has been unable to prevent Iran threatening its neighbours and hitting Israel, as well as the strikes on Dubai’s financial district.

That attack came after Iran warned earlier this week that it would target ‘economic centres and banks’ in the region, particularly those linked to Israel and the US.

Several major companies had already begun downscaling their staffing levels in Dubai and closing offices.

The United Arab Emirates has been targeted by more than 1,500 drones and 300 missiles since the conflict began. To protect the image of Dubai, locals posting images of the damage have been questioned by the country’s security services.

So far six people have died and 130 have been injured in the UAE. Most of the drones and missiles were fired in the first two days.

But even much smaller quantities of ordnance can damage Dubai’s profile as a secure centre of global trade.

In a further blow to economies around the world, US military chiefs were forced to concede yesterday that they are unable to escort cargo ships and oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, a situation that will not be alleviated for a further fortnight.

Mr Hegseth insisted the US had planned for Iran to blockade the Strait. However, last night there were no American maritime assets in the area to protect ships. And earlier this year the Royal Navy withdrew its only minesweeper in the region for routine maintenance. Britain only has un-crewed anti-drone systems based in Bahrain.

The War Secretary said: ‘We planned for it. We recognise it, because ultimately we want to do it sequentially, in a way that makes most sense for what we want to achieve.

‘We want to send the right signals to the world when we do so. We are grabbing hold of the objectives we want to achieve, we are narrowing not widening the conflict.’

The crisis has persuaded the Pentagon to deploy a US Marine Corps expeditionary unit based in Japan to the Middle East.

The first US ‘boots on the ground’ are expected to arrive later this month. The USS Tripoli has set sail from Japan and other ships will be redeployed from the Pacific.

Meanwhile, Iranian leaders, not including the recently appointed Supreme Leader, taunted the US by riding motorbikes and celebrating Quds Day in Tehran.

Iran’s president Masoud Pezeshkian was seen riding pillion on a motorcycle through the capital surrounded by chanting crowds.

Pezeshkian was joined by foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, as well as chief of police Ahmadreza Radan and the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation, Mohammad Eslami.

The group posed for selfies with crowds in what appeared a state-orchestrated event.

Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s national security council, told state media reporters accompanying the parade: ‘Trump’s problem is that he doesn’t understand the Iranian nation is wise and determined.’

But the mood of defiance was shattered by an explosion as American and Israeli bombs landed nearby, though no leader was injured. War Secretary Hegseth mocked Mojtaba Khamenei, son of assassinated Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has not been seen since the blast that killed his father, mother, wife and other relatives.

Hegseth said: ‘They’re cowering underground. That’s what rats do. They’re barely communicating, let alone co-ordinating. They are confused and we know it.’