Secretive US military moves 'tell a lot' about impending Trump address: analyst

At least a dozen U.S. attack aircraft were spotted arriving in England Monday evening, with more "expected" to have arrived Tuesday night, leading journalist and analyst Adam Cochran to suspect a U.S. ground invasion of Iran to be imminent, news of which he predicted may be shared Wednesday night during President Donald Trump’s mysterious address.

“[These aircraft] are used to protect boots on the ground,” Cochran wrote Wednesday in a social media post on X to his nearly 300,000 followers. “It can tell us A LOT about what the military thinks is ahead for Iran – and what Trump may announce tonight.”

According to the BBC, 12 A-10C Thunderbolt IIs – subsonic attack aircraft designed to provide support for ground troops – landed at a Royal Air Force base in England. The U.S. military refused to comment when pressed by the outlet.

The news broke just hours ahead of Trump’s scheduled address Wednesday night, where the president is expected to provide an “important update” on the U.S. war against Iran, and just ahead of an announcement from Trump Wednesday morning that Iranian leadership had “just asked the United States for a ceasefire.”

While news of a potential ceasefire may appear to hint at a pause in the war, Cochran argued that such an outcome was “unlikely” given the circumstances.

“Sending 18x USAF A-10 Warthogs after scheduling this conference doesn't support a real [withdrawal]. So what about opening the Strait [of Hormuz] by force? The US has multiple ships and aircraft that are FAR better suited to securing the Strait and that are already in the region,” Cochran wrote.

“So the best read on this is: the US plans to put boots on the ground imminently. Or, the US expects to take some action or posturing, where if their enemy escalates they may need to respond with boots on the ground rapidly.”

Cochran went on to call the possibility of Trump announcing a withdrawal from the conflict “deeply unlikely.”

“These planes did not fly across the world last night, after Trump had scheduled his national address, simply because we're going to say ‘we're walking away,’” he wrote.