Trump erupts at Hegseth over US military munitions shortages: report
US President Donald Trump confronted Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at Camp David last week over severe shortages of critical munitions that are constraining US military options in the ongoing conflict with Iran, according to a report by The Washington Post citing two people familiar with the exchange.
During the sidelines of a Cabinet meeting, Trump demanded answers from Hegseth about why he had been misled regarding the depletion of stockpiles, particularly long-range precision missiles and air-defense interceptors such as Patriots and THAADs.
The president said he believed the munitions problem “had been fixed,” expressing frustration that the shortages now threaten to limit further operations.
Hegseth reportedly defended himself by blaming Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg for the shortages and for failing to keep Trump fully informed.
Later that evening, Trump placed an angry phone call to Feinberg, which prompted a hastily arranged crisis meeting of senior military and acquisition officials at the Pentagon to address ways to rapidly replenish the stocks.
Trump later said on Truth Social that the United States has “massive amounts of munitions”.
“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,” he said 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!” he continued.
The reported clash comes as the Iran war enters its sixth month.
The US military has expended significant quantities of high-end munitions early in the conflict, with independent estimates indicating sharp declines in interceptor inventories.
Hegseth has told Congress that operations have cost about $37.5 billion so far and requested an additional $67 billion partly to rebuild stockpiles and expand production lines.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt forcefully denied the account, calling it “100% fake news” and stating, “This literally never happened.”
She added that “President Trump has the utmost confidence in Secretary Hegseth.”
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell similarly rejected the claims, saying Hegseth “did not mislead anyone about our munitions posture” and did not blame Feinberg.
