By Enyichukwu Enemanna
President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the United States has a vast supply of munitions, threatening those who suggested otherwise with jail terms as his frustration with the Iran war boiled over.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, the Republican leader denied media reports about the dwindling weapons stockpile, saying that the United States has “massive amounts of ‘munitions’ especially of certain types,” but did not disclose further detail.
“Additionally, large amounts are being manufactured and shipped to the U.S. as needed. Defense companies are building the largest number of plants and factories in our country’s history,” he said.
The Washington Post has reported that Trump demanded answers about the munitions shortages from Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth last Friday, when they attended a cabinet meeting at the Camp David presidential retreat.
Trump told Hegseth that he thought the munitions issue “had been fixed,” the Post reported, citing two unidentified sources familiar with the exchange.
Trump railed against the media reports, threatening on Thursday that “the ‘leakers’ of these treasonous statements are being hunted down” and “Long term jail sentences will be sought!”
CNN also reported that shortages of long-range guided missiles and air-defense interceptors had affected Trump’s strategy in the conflict with Iran, with the US military having “nearly exhausted 80%” of its stock of THAAD interceptors.
The Post also said that the shortages led Trump to call off fresh strikes against Iran, despite having threatened to hit the Islamic republic “very hard”.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt branded coverage of the exchange with Hegseth “FAKE NEWS!”
“I was at Camp David with President Trump and Secretary Hegseth. This literally never happened,” she wrote on X.
