This is the Daily Blast from the New Republic, produced and presented by the DSR Network.

I'm your host, Greg Sargent.

Everything we're learning now strongly suggests that Donald Trump's war is about to get worse.

First, word leaked that the Pentagon may demand $200 billion more from Congress. Second, officials let it be known that Trump is considering the deployment of thousands of troops on the ground. Meanwhile,

Trump himself just suggested to reporters that he's envisioning even more military actions

that he hasn't even explained yet. All this makes it absolutely clear

that Congress will not just be asked to fund Trump's war, but also that the pressure on Congress

to do something about this madness will intensify. So today we're talking to Congressman Adam Smith,

the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee about what Democrats will

be able to do when that happens. Congressman, thanks so much for coming on. Well, thanks for

having me. It's always good to see you. So let's start with all the leaks about Trump potentially

sending in troops on the ground. People familiar with planning told Reuters that Trump may deploy

thousands of them. The options being discussed

are deploying troops to the shoreline of the Strait of Hormuz to secure passage for oil tankers

and possibly sending ground forces to Karg Island, which is the hub for oil exports, which one

official describes to Reuters as very risky. Congressman, you talk to people at the Pentagon a fair amount.

Are you getting any indications of anything like this? And what's your overall take on it?

Yeah, no, it's very worrisome because the bottom line is it's clear that Trump is not going to be able

to achieve anything meaningful in Iran, which is a change of the regime and a change of action.

I mean, degrading their capability is one thing, but at the cost that we're currently experiencing,

13 service members' lives already lost, massive economic disruption, 14 countries dragged into

this, civilian deaths, of course, the tragic killing of 150 schoolgirls in Iran, massive

...