Trump denies munitions shortage, threatens leakers with prison

President Donald Trump denied that the United States is running short of munitions as questions mount over the military’s weapons stocks during the six-month war with Iran, and he threatened long prison sentences for officials suspected of leaking classified information.

“The U.S. has massive amounts of ‘munitions,’ especially of certain types,” Trump wrote Thursday on Truth Social. “Additionally, large amounts are being manufactured and shipped to the US as needed.” In a separate part of the post, he said: “The ‘leakers’ of these treasonous statements are being hunted down. Long term jail sentences will be sought!”

Trump also wrote, according to The Guardian, that “Defense companies are building the largest number of plants and factories in our country’s history,” though he did not provide evidence or details about specific weapons systems.

The comments followed reports that the administration is contending with shortages of key munitions, including long-range guided missiles and air defense interceptors, as the US and Iran continue to trade strikes despite multiple pauses in fighting. A deal to fully end hostilities remains elusive.

CBS News, the BBC’s US partner, reported that the US has used much of its global stockpile of long-range precision missiles during the war, citing two unnamed sources with direct knowledge of the matter. CNN separately reported that shortages of long-range guided missiles and air defense interceptors had begun to constrain Trump’s strategy, and said the US military had “nearly exhausted 80%” of its stock of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, interceptors.

The Washington Post reported Wednesday that Trump confronted Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last week over a possible weapons shortfall, citing unnamed sources. The Post said Trump demanded answers at a cabinet meeting at Camp David and told Hegseth he felt misled because he believed the problem “had been fixed.” The newspaper also reported that Hegseth defended himself and sought to shift blame to his deputy, Stephen Feinberg. The BBC said it had not confirmed the report.

The White House and Pentagon rejected the accounts. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called the reported Camp David exchange “FAKE NEWS!” on X. “I was at Camp David with President Trump and Secretary Hegseth. This literally never happened,” she wrote, adding that “the President loves the Secretary and thinks he’s doing a tremendous job.”

Sean Parnell, the chief Pentagon spokesman, dismissed both the reported confrontation and claims of weapons shortages as “equally fictional.” He said Hegseth would “continue to work side by side with Deputy Secretary Feinberg to execute President Trump’s agenda, strengthen America’s defense industrial base, and ensure our warfighters have every capability they need to deter and defeat any adversary.”

Precise information on US missile stocks is classified. Using publicly available data, the Center for Strategic and International Studies estimated that by the end of July, the US had between 759 and 827 Patriot missiles left, down from 2,330 before the conflict began. Mark Cancian, a retired Marine Corps colonel and senior adviser at CSIS, said Wednesday the US had used around 60% of THAAD missiles.

The US has also supplied Ukraine with Patriot missiles since Russia’s 2022 invasion. As stocks shrink, Cancian expects the Pentagon to hold on to them. Trump said Friday that granting Ukraine’s recent request for more Patriot missiles would be a “big step,” though the two countries were “still talking about” it.

The administration has repeatedly said US stockpiles are sufficient. Trump told The Wall Street Journal last month, “We have far more munitions than anyone in the world, and far more than we need.” Hegseth called reports of a shortage a “manufactured story” on CBS’ “Face the Nation” on June 14. Last month, however, he asked the Senate for $87 billion in emergency funds to pay service members and “rapidly replenish equipment and munitions.”