President Donald Trump strongly denied reports claiming he confronted Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over depleted U.S. military munitions stockpiles, threatening long-term jail sentences for those leaking information to the media.
The Washington Post reported that Trump accosted Hegseth during a meeting at Camp David regarding the issue, citing two sources familiar with the matter. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt vehemently denied the report, calling it “100 percent fake news” and stating that Trump retains full confidence in the Defense Secretary.
Addressing the claims on Truth Social, Trump insisted the United States holds massive reserves of weaponry and that domestic defense contractors are rapidly increasing production.
In an official White House statement regarding the stockpile data, Trump added that the U.S. has “far more munitions than anyone in the world” and “far more than we need.”
However, reports from Reuters indicate that the five-month war with Iran has heavily strained specific long-range missile supplies.
According to three sources familiar with the data cited by Reuters, the U.S. Army has used up a significant portion of its global stockpile of highly accurate surface-to-surface weapons, specifically the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) and the newer Precision Strike Missile (PrSM). Two of those sources stated the military has used “virtually all” of these specific systems.
The individual munitions cost over $1 million each and allow precision strikes from safe distances. ATACMS have previously been supplied to Ukrainian forces for strikes inside Russia, while the PrSM is designed as a longer-range replacement. The drawdown could force the administration to rely more heavily on piloted bombing missions if large-scale military operations in Iran continue.
Three sources expressed concern that falling missile supplies could impair the military’s ability to deter other global adversaries, including Russia and China.
Conversely, a fourth source familiar with the matter noted that Central Command has successfully reloaded by tapping into U.S. military supplies stored elsewhere around the world, maintaining that the U.S. retains the capacity to resupply its forces. All sources interviewed spoke on the condition of anonymity.
READ: North Korea Fires Ballistic Missile Ahead Of Joint U.S.-South Korea Military Exercises
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