Trump pushes defense firms as missile stockpiles shrink

President Donald Trump is preparing to press U.S. defense industry leaders to rapidly increase weapons production as the war with Iran strains American missile supplies and raises concerns inside and outside the Pentagon about military readiness, NBC News reported.

Leaders of roughly seven defense companies have been preparing to meet with Trump at the White House later this week for what one person familiar with the plans described to NBC News as a meeting that is “going to be ugly.” Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg is also expected to attend, according to people familiar with the plans.

A White House official said there was no meeting with defense company leaders on the president’s schedule “at this time,” and NBC News reported that the session could be rescheduled or canceled. The Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment.

The expected confrontation comes as Trump weighs whether to restart major combat operations in Iran after Iran downed a U.S. Army helicopter Tuesday. The crew was rescued, and the U.S. launched new attacks in Iran in response.

“We’re going to be attacking them, attacking them very hard,” Trump said Wednesday from the Oval Office. “We hit them hard yesterday, and we’re going to hit them again hard today.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also confirmed that the U.S. planned further strikes, The Guardian reported. Speaking outside U.S. Central Command headquarters in Tampa, Florida, Hegseth said, “Those strikes that happen tonight will be strong,” while suggesting the attacks could be avoided if Iran agreed to a peace deal. “If we need to negotiate with bombs, then we’ll negotiate with bombs,” he said.

The conflict has intensified worries over the Pentagon’s munitions stockpile. Military officials, outside experts and lawmakers have warned that the U.S. is using missiles and interceptors at a pace that could affect its ability to respond to other adversaries. Hegseth has dismissed those concerns.

Trump has publicly projected confidence. In March, he wrote online that the United States had a “virtually unlimited supply” of weapons. But NBC News reported that he has privately expressed anger to aides and allies over thinning stockpiles.

White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said the military has more than enough munitions, ammunition and stockpiles “to serve all of President Trump’s strategic goals and beyond, and Operation Epic Fury has exposed what happens when you mess with the United States.”

“Even still, the President has urged our defense contractors to constantly produce more made-in-America weapons, which are the best in the world,” Kelly said. “Democrats destroyed our military, but President Trump rebuilt it.”

NBC News reported in May that despite widespread concern about a dwindling missile supply, the Pentagon had not signed any new multiyear contracts to buy more missiles since Trump took office. The Pentagon has entered into “framework agreements” on weaponry, but those do not include actual contracts to produce new munitions, according to officials and defense company representatives cited by NBC News.

The stockpile has declined since the U.S. began sending military aid to Ukraine after Russia’s 2022 invasion. The problem has become more acute over the past year, NBC News reported, after a U.S. strike on Iran last June in an operation called Midnight Hammer and the U.S.- and Israel-launched war that began Feb. 28, known as Operation Epic Fury.

Capitol Hill officials and other experts estimate the Pentagon needs an additional $20 billion to begin producing more missiles and restore U.S. stockpiles to levels comparable to those before the Ukraine aid effort began. On Wednesday, the House Appropriations Committee unveiled a proposed defense spending bill of more than $1 trillion, with munitions production a focus.

The shrinking supply has forced the U.S. to draw munitions from stockpiles in Europe and Asia for the war against Iran, NBC News reported. Current missile production is largely tied to contracts signed years ago.

A Center for Strategic and International Studies report earlier this year found that the U.S. is running low on weapons overall, with particular concern over Tomahawk missiles, joint air-to-surface missiles, Patriot missiles and terminal high-altitude area defense interceptors. The study estimated the U.S. had about 3,100 Tomahawk missiles before the Iran war began and has used about 1,000 or more. Even if new contracts were signed immediately, CSIS estimated, replenishing Tomahawk stockpiles could take more than three years.