US President Donald Trump has demanded an explanation from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth about why he was allegedly misled about the acute shortage of ammunition that is limiting US action in Iran.
This is reported by The Washington Post, citing two sources familiar with the situation.
According to the publication, during a meeting at the presidential residence Camp David last Friday, Trump expressed his "deep dissatisfaction" with Hegseth, saying that he considered the ammunition problem "already solved".
In response, Hegseth denied responsibility for the situation and shifted the blame to his deputy, Steven Feinberg, who allegedly failed to report to the president about the actual state of the reserves.
In response to questions from reporters, the White House said that this was “100% fake news”. White House spokeswoman Caroline Levitt said that Trump “fully trusts” Hegseth. A similar statement was made by the Pentagon’s chief spokesman, Sean Parnell, who assured that the Secretary of Defense had not misled anyone or shifted responsibility to his subordinates.
Trump wrote on his social network Truth Social that the US has "a huge amount of ammunition" and that "informants" who make "these treasonous statements" are already being sought.
"We will seek long prison terms for them," the US president promised.
Missile shortage in the US
On August 4, Reuters reported that the US military had exhausted almost all of its stock of long-range missiles, including ATACMS, which Ukraine uses to strike targets deep inside Russia. CNN reported that the US military had used up almost 80% of its THAAD air defense system.
It is precisely because of the depletion of reserves, WP sources say, that Trump has in recent days abandoned new large-scale strikes on Iran, although he promised "the largest attack since World War II."
According to WP, in the first month of the war alone, the US used more than 850 Tomahawk cruise missiles, more than 1 000 Patriot and THAAD missiles, and more than 1 300 ATACMS tactical ballistic missiles. However, the Pentagon chief denied media reports that the US had used up almost all of its long-range missile stockpiles.
The missile shortage is not just affecting US operations in the Middle East. Due to limited supplies from Western allies, Ukraine is also facing a shortage of missiles for its air defense systems, making it difficult to defend against Russian air attacks.
According to the publication, the US Presidential Administration is asking Congress to allocate another $67 billion to replenish military reserves after significant expenses in the war with Iran. However, the corresponding bill has not yet received support from lawmakers. The production of new missiles also takes time: some types of weapons, in particular missiles for Patriot complexes, can be manufactured up to two years.
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