US president Donald Trump has lashed out at reports that his armed forces are running short of key munitions in its war with Iran, threatening long prison sentences for officials who leak information about the military’s weapons stocks.
Trump claimed on Thursday that the US had “massive amounts” of ammunition and said more was being manufactured and shipped to the region, as his frustration over the conflict spilled into a public attack on the media.
Defence companies are “building the largest number of plants and factories in our country’s history”, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, without providing evidence or details about the specific weapons in question.
His remarks came after a report that he had demanded answers from his defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, over alleged shortages at a cabinet meeting last Friday at Camp David, the US presidential retreat in Maryland.
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Trump told Hegseth he felt misled because he believed the problem “had been fixed”, according to the Washington Post, citing two unnamed sources familiar with the exchange. Hegseth defended himself and sought to shift blame to his deputy, Stephen Feinberg, the Post reported.
The president responded angrily on Thursday, accusing the media of spreading “treasonous statements” and warning that those responsible would be pursued.
“The leakers of these treasonous statements are being hunted down,” he wrote. “Long-term jail sentences will be sought!”
CNN separately reported that shortages of long-range guided missiles and air defence interceptors had begun to constrain Trump’s strategy in the conflict. The US military had “nearly exhausted 80 per cent” of its stock of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense interceptors, the network said.
The Post also reported that concerns over dwindling supplies had contributed to Trump calling off further strikes against Iran, despite his repeated threats to hit the Islamic Republic “very hard”.
The White House and Pentagon rejected the claims. Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, described the account of the Camp David exchange as “FAKE NEWS!” on X. She wrote: “I was at Camp David with President Trump and Secretary Hegseth. This literally never happened.”
Seeking to quash speculation about Hegseth’s future, Leavitt insisted that “the President loves the Secretary and thinks he’s doing a tremendous job”.
Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell dismissed the reports of a confrontation between Trump and Hegseth and claims of weapons shortages as “equally fictional”.
Parnell added: “Secretary Hegseth isn’t going anywhere and he’s going to continue to work side by side with deputy secretary Feinberg to execute President Trump’s agenda, strengthen America’s defence industrial base, and ensure our warfighters have every capability they need to deter and defeat any adversary.”
[ Iran warns Gulf states: tell Trump to desist or we hit you hardOpens in new window ]
Trump weighed in later on Thursday. “I am extremely happy with the job that Pete Hegseth is doing,” said the president on social media, accusing outlets reporting otherwise of “spreading false and completely unfounded rumours”.
The increasingly public dispute comes as Trump seeks to project confidence over the course of the war.
On Sunday he claimed he had ordered and subsequently called off “the biggest attack since” the second World War, in the light of fresh negotiations over the Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s foreign ministry denied that talks were taking place, despite Trump’s claim that Tehran was eager to reach a deal.
With his war against Iran now in its sixth month, Trump is caught between an emerging interim deal being negotiated by Iran and Oman that would give Tehran control over the strait it never possessed before the war, or following through on his warnings of sharp escalation, risking a more prolonged crisis.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio has insisted that the strait, where Iran has had a near-chokehold on a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments since the start of the war, must remain an open international waterway not controlled by Iran and free of tolls or fees. – Guardian/Reuters
