Donald Trump confirmed Friday that his administration would deploy 1,500 military personnel to the Middle East.

“We want to have protection in the Middle East, we’re going to be sending a relatively small number of troops, mostly protective,” he said. “Some very talented people are going to the Middle East right now and we’ll see what happens.”

The president commented on the news as he left the White House for a trip to Japan on Friday.

Trump said that Iran was a “much different country” after he became president, but wanted to make sure that existing forces were secure.

He made his decision after meeting with Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan on the issue.

Trump said he was concerned about Iran spreading terrorism throughout the world, even though they were active in fewer places since he became president.

“When I first got here, they were in 14 different locations fighting,” he said. “Right now, I don’t think Iran wants to fight and I certainly don’t think they want to fight with us.”