President Donald Trump asserted Thursday that the United States possesses a "massive" stockpile of munitions and stated that "treasonous" leakers are "being hunted down." His comments came in response to reports indicating that the U.S. Army has depleted nearly all of its inventories of two key long-range precision weapons.
According to a Reuters report citing individuals familiar with internal U.S. military data, the Army has used "virtually all" of its stock of Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) and Precision Strike Missiles (PrSM) during a five-month conflict with Iran. Trump countered this on Truth Social, writing, "The U.S. has massive amounts of ‘munitions,’ especially of certain types. 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 added, "The ‘leakers’ of these treasonous statements are being hunted down. Long term jail sentences will be sought!" The president's remarks were reposted on X by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
If the Reuters report is accurate, it highlights a long-standing concern within the Pentagon: that America's most advanced precision weapons can be used up in months but take years to replenish. Officials reportedly fear that such a drawdown could hinder the military's ability to respond to future crises involving adversaries like China and Russia.
The Reuters report also indicated that the conflict has significantly reduced inventories of Patriot and THAAD missile interceptors, as well as Tomahawk cruise missiles. However, the Pentagon has maintained that the U.S. military retains the necessary capabilities for global operations.
Exact figures for U.S. weapons stockpiles are classified for national security reasons. Some analyses suggest the U.S. has expended more than half of its stockpiles for certain weapon systems in the conflict with Iran. The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) concluded that while the U.S. has sufficient missiles to continue the current conflict under plausible scenarios, the primary concern is the impact on readiness for future wars.
Mark Cancian, a retired U.S. Marines colonel and senior advisor with CSIS's Defense and Security Department, told Fox News' Bret Baier that the depletion of munitions was a significant factor and a primary reason for suspending air attacks. He noted that U.S. inventories were falling below war planners' desired levels, which could potentially embolden China.
CSIS identified that while many munition stockpiles are substantial, their analysis focused on seven key weapons that have proven effective in the recent conflict and would be valuable in a potential Pacific scenario.
Trump also stated in a message provided to Fox News Digital on Wednesday that "We have far more munitions than anyone in the world, and far more than we need, despite the fact that an unprecedented amount was given away by Crooked Joe Biden and the Biden Administration to Ukraine and Europe at no cost, in one of many of their extremely dumb moves."
The Pentagon has publicly refuted aspects of the reporting. Chief spokesman Sean Parnell stated, "America’s military is the most powerful in the world and has everything it needs to execute at the time and place of the President’s choosing. We have executed multiple successful operations across combatant commands while ensuring the U.S. military possesses a deep arsenal of capabilities to protect our people and our interests."
