TRUMP SURGES 9,000 TROOPS TOWARD IRAN — 'They'll Be Hit Very Hard'

Roughly 9,000 American troops are heading to the Middle East aboard a fleet of warships as President Trump weighs new strikes on Iran. The message to Tehran: if the regime is linked to the plot to crash an Israel-bound flight, the hammer falls.

AP reports the U.S. is dispatching roughly 9,000 troops aboard a group of ships — including the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group and the USS Makin Island amphibious readiness group — to the region. Three carriers could be in place by the end of October.

Trump told reporters early indications suggest Iran is linked to the co-pilot who stabbed his captain and tried to crash an Israel-bound flight Wednesday: "I would say the answer, based on what I'm hearing, is yes."

His warning was blunt: "Oh they'll be hit, very hard, don't worry. You just ask them. They know what happened." The regime has been put on notice — the clock is ticking.

Not everyone is ready to point the finger: Israel's Netanyahu told Fox News it was "too early to say" whether Iran was involved, while UAE investigators work to establish the co-pilot's motive.