WASHINGTON — President Trump was adamant Thursday that the US has “massive amounts” of munitions in its arsenal and vowed to hunt down leakers who are anonymously sounding the alarms about America’s stash of firepower.
The president’s condemnation followed a Washington Post report that he lashed out at War Secretary Pete Hegseth during a Camp David cabinet meeting last week, claiming he had been misled about the state of America’s arms stockpile.
According to the outlet, Trump complained that the shortages are one of the main reasons he hasn’t ordered massive new strikes against Iran. The president has publicly attributed operational delays to progress in peace talks with Tehran.
“The U.S. has massive amounts of ‘munitions,’ especially of certain types. Additionally, large amounts are being manufactured and shipped to the U.S. as needed,” Trump declared on Truth Social.
“Defense companies are building the largest number of plants and factories in our country’s history. The ‘leakers’ of these treasonous statements are being hunted down. Long term jail sentences will be sought!”
Both the White House and the Pentagon denied the Washington Post report, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt declaring it “B.S.”
“I was at Camp David with President Trump and Secretary Hegseth. This literally never happened,” Leavitt claimed on X. “This B.S. story was shopped to many outlets by someone clearly out to disparage the Secretary, for whatever reason.”
“Unfortunately for them, the President loves the Secretary and thinks he’s doing a tremendous job.”
An analysis published July 27 by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) concluded that the US is running alarmingly low on defensive weapons.
America’s stash of Patriot interceptors, key to anti-missile systems, went from about 2,330 before the start of Operation Epic Fury Feb. 28 to around 800, according to the CSIS estimate.
Additionally, the stockpile of THAADs, used for high-altitude missile defense, went from 452 pre-war to around 250, per the analysis.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported Tuesday that the US has used “virtually all” its supply of Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) and Precision Strike Missiles (PrSMs). The Trump administration has disputed that claim.
Hegseth has said the Pentagon is working with defense contractors to ramp up production to replace weapons that have been used to assist Ukraine as it fights Russia’s four-year-old invasion.
However, outside experts have warned that it could take two years to replace the so-called “exquisite munitions” used during the war in Iran.
