President Trump posted on Truth Social on Friday, March 20, that the United States was "getting very close to meeting our objectives as we consider winding down our great Military efforts in the Middle East with respect to the Terrorist Regime of Iran." The statement came on the same day that the Pentagon confirmed it was deploying three additional warships and roughly 2,500 Marines to the Persian Gulf region — the second such deployment announcement in a week. Fox affiliate stations and LiveNOW from FOX covered Trump's "winding down" post prominently, while NPR reported the contradictory deployment order under the headline "Trump says he mulls 'winding down' the Iran war, even as more Marines head to Mideast." CNN noted on March 21 that thousands of Marines were simultaneously being sent to the Middle East, framing the gap between Trump's rhetoric and the Pentagon's actions as a central question about the war's trajectory.

When asked by reporters on Thursday whether additional troops would be sent to the region, Trump said: "No. I'm not putting troops anywhere. If I were, I certainly wouldn't tell you, but I'm not putting troops. And we will do whatever is necessary to keep the peace." Within 24 hours, the administration confirmed the Marine deployment. NPR reported that the USS Tripoli group, carrying more than 2,000 Marines, was expected to arrive from Japan shortly, adding to the roughly 50,000 U.S. troops already in the region. The U.S. military's Central Command declined to comment on the deployments or their specific missions.

In a separate move intended to ease the energy crisis triggered by the near-total closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that the Trump administration was temporarily lifting sanctions on some Iranian oil and oil products already loaded on ships at sea, an exemption effective through April 19, 2026. Bessent said the decision was expected to quickly add approximately 140 million barrels of Iranian oil to the global market. Crude oil prices, which had risen roughly 45 percent since the war began on March 1, had reached approximately per barrel by March 21. Fox Business confirmed the sanction-lifting announcement; NPR noted that the move represented the first time the U.S. had relaxed Iranian oil sanctions since the war began.

The Iran war entered its fourth week on March 21 with more than 1,400 reported deaths in Iran, according to Al Jazeera tallies. NPR reported that the war "entered its fourth week with no clear end in sight," despite Trump's winding-down rhetoric. Fox's coverage generally framed Trump's statement as a signal of approaching victory and mission accomplishment, while NPR and CNN focused on the unresolved Hormuz closure, continued missile exchanges — including Iranian strikes on the Israeli towns of Dimona and Arad — and the gap between presidential statements and Pentagon actions. The lifting of Iranian oil sanctions created an unusual left-right split, with conservatives expressing unease about providing Iran any economic relief, and some progressive commentators noting the move showed the war's energy costs were becoming politically untenable.