Donald Trump gave a vague explanation Saturday about his call for Iran’s “unconditional surrender” and left open the possibility of sending American troops. He also ruled out asking Kurdish forces to enter the conflict. “I said unconditional. It’s where they cry uncle or when they can’t fight any longer and there’s nobody around to cry uncle — that could happen too,” Trump said aboard Air Force One when reporters pressed him. Trump’s answer offered few details about his endgame in the conflict. This lack of clarity has drawn questions about what the White House wants from Iran and how the U.S. might influence its leadership in the future. While Trump has been consistent in his military goals, he has suggested that U.S. troops could be deployed. He mentioned that ground troops could be used later to secure enriched uranium believed to be stored at Iran’s nuclear sites, which the U.S. bombed last year. “We haven’t talked about it. At some point maybe we will. It would be a great thing. Right now we’re just decimating them. We haven’t gone after it but something we could do later on. We wouldn’t do it now,” Trump said. Trump also confirmed he would not use Kurdish forces for an invasion. Despite reports that the CIA had armed Kurdish fighters, he said their involvement would make the war more complicated. “I don’t want the Kurds going in. They’re willing to go in, but I’ve told them I don’t want them going in. The war’s complicated enough without getting the Kurds involved,” Trump said. Earlier Saturday, Trump attended a dignified transfer at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. The ceremony marked the return of six U.S. service members killed in the opening days of the war against Iran. Trump was joined by JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The sky was gray as the C-17 Globemaster aircraft brought the remains to the base. Trump, wearing a white “USA” baseball cap, saluted the six flag-draped transfer cases as teams carried them to waiting vans. Trump told reporters that witnessing the transfer did not change his commitment to the war. “No, we’re winning the war by a lot. We decimated their whole evil empire. It will continue, I’m sure, for a little while, but I’m very proud of the people,” he said. He added that deaths were “a part of war.” The conflict escalated after Trump authorized U.S. participation in airstrikes with Israel last week, including an attack that killed Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Early statements from Trump suggested the war might last four weeks, but officials now warn it could continue for months. Trump did not commit to a timeline on Saturday. “Whatever it takes,” he said, even as he described the campaign as a “short excursion.” Trump blamed Iran for a strike that destroyed a girls’ elementary school in southern Iran, killing at least 175 people, many children. A Pentagon investigation is ongoing, but media analysis suggests it could have been a U.S. precision strike near a Revolutionary Guard naval base. “No, in my opinion, based on what I’ve seen, that was done by Iran,” Trump insisted, even after Defense Secretary Hegseth refrained from assigning blame. “They’re very inaccurate as you know with their munitions. They have no accuracy whatsoever. It was done by Iran,” Trump repeated.