AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein
President Donald Trump has grown increasingly frustrated with the ongoing Iran war and sought answers from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth amid reports of munitions shortages, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday night.
The U.S. military is experiencing a shortage of long-range guided missiles and air-defense interceptors, which is reportedly why Trump has refrained from launching additional major strikes on Iran. Crucially, the U.S. is running low on Terminal High Altitude Area Defense systems, which poses a problem for U.S. military personnel stationed in Middle Eastern countries that Iran has been bombing.
Citing two people familiar with the situation, the Post reported that Trump interrogated Hegseth as to why he had seemingly been misled as to existing U.S. military capabilities:
President Donald Trump’s frustration over the Iran war boiled over at Camp David last week, where he demanded answers from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on why he had apparently been misled on extreme munitions shortages that now threaten to limit military options with Iran, two people familiar told The Washington Post.
The encounter took place on the sidelines of his Cabinet meeting at Camp David on Friday where Trump vented at Hegseth that he thought the munitions issue “had been fixed,” according to both persons familiar with the conversation, who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity due to fear of retaliation.
During their exchange, Hegseth pointed the blame at Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg for the shortages and for not communicating this to Trump adequately.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt denied the exchange between Trump and Hegseth occurred at all.
“This is 100% fake news,” Leavitt told the Post. “Literally never happened. And President Trump has the utmost confidence in Secretary Hegseth.”
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell denied Hegseth dissembled about munition shortages and said the secretary did not blame his lieutenant.
“Secretary Hegseth did not mislead anyone about our munitions posture, and he did not blame Deputy Secretary Feinberg,” Parnell said. “These claims about depleted stockpiles, internal disagreements, the Secretary’s position on Iran … are equally fictional.”
For months, Trump has repeatedly insisted that Iran wants to make a deal “badly.” In a speech in June, he reiterated this talking point right after Iran bombed a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz, which it has effectively closed.
The post Frustrated Trump Reportedly Demanded Hegseth Explain Weapons Shortages Amid Iran War first appeared on Mediaite.
