The clash at Camp David between Trump and Hegseth over the empty arsenal

President Donald Trump’s frustration over the war with Iran came to a head at Camp David last week, where he demanded an explanation from Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth as to why he had apparently been misled about the severe ammunition shortage that now threatens to limit military options against Iran, according to two people familiar with the exchange who spoke to the Washington Post.

The meeting took place on the sidelines of the cabinet meeting held last Friday at Camp David, during which Trump vented his frustration to Hegseth, saying he had thought the ammunition issue ‘had been resolved’, according to both sources familiar with the conversation, who, like others, spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. The shortage – particularly of long-range guided missiles and air defence interceptors – was one of the reasons why Trump has refrained from launching further large-scale attacks against Iran in recent days, one of the sources said.

On Monday, Trump stated that he had ordered and subsequently called off “the biggest attack since the Second World War”, pending further negotiations over the Strait of Hormuz. The president said overnight that the United States has “enormous quantities” of munitions, stating in a post on Truth Social that “large quantities are being produced and shipped to the United States as required”. “Those ‘responsible for the leaks’ regarding these treasonous statements are being hunted down,” he added. Although the US has announced new production agreements for some of the most critical munitions, such as Patriot air defence missiles, the production of the munitions themselves can take up to two years and there is no immediate relief in sight for the shortage. In the first month of fighting alone, the US fired more than 850 Tomahawk cruise missiles and deployed more than 1,000 Patriot and THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defence) systems, as previously reported by the Washington Post.

The United States also used more than 1,300 Army Tactical Missiles (ATACMS) in the first few weeks of fighting, a US official told the Washington Post. Stocks of ATACMS – a short-range missile also requested by Ukraine – have been depleted to the point where virtually none remain, said one of the informed sources, as reported by Reuters earlier this week.

The shortage of defensive munitions has had repercussions far beyond the borders of the Middle East. Ukraine is running out of its air defences and has few options for replenishing its supplies from Western stocks, leaving it vulnerable to long-range attacks from Russia. The shortage of interceptor missiles is also changing the way the United States decides whether to deploy munitions against an incoming threat, based on the direction in which it is believed to be heading and whether or not it constitutes ‘a factor’, the US official told the Washington Post – a change in tactics first reported by NBC News.

At Camp David, when confronted by Trump over the now-dwindling weapons stocks, Hegseth defended himself and blamed the shortfalls on his deputy, Stephen Feinberg, accusing him of failing to ensure that Trump was fully informed of the matter, according to both informed sources. The exchange highlighted Trump’s growing frustration with his Defence Secretary, who had been one of the main early advocates of military action against Iran, convincing Trump that it would be a quick and relatively easy victory, according to several officials. “This is 100 per cent fake news. It never happened, literally. And President Trump has the utmost confidence in Secretary Hegseth,” said White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt in response to questions from the Washington Post. More than five months into the conflict, with 18 US servicemen killed and hundreds wounded, Iran and the United States remain at a stalemate, whilst neighbouring Arab countries’ concerns are growing over the long-term economic repercussions of the war and the impact of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. “Secretary Hegseth has not misled anyone regarding our situation in terms of ammunition, nor has he blamed Under-Secretary Feinberg. These claims about depleted stocks, internal disagreements, and the Secretary’s position on Iran… are equally fabricated,” said Pentagon Chief Spokesperson Sean Parnell.

At a Senate hearing held in July, Hegseth had a heated exchange with Democrats over whether he had provided Trump with honest assessments of the war in Iran, including the risks that a protracted campaign would pose to US military stocks. During the hearing, Hegseth refused to discuss the advice he had given to the President and repeatedly attributed any shortcomings to the Biden administration’s management of the armed forces, rather than to operations carried out under Trump’s leadership.

Hegseth, Feinberg and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, have asked lawmakers to allocate an additional $67 billion in military funding to help cover the costs of the war in Iran; in his testimony last month, Hegseth explained to lawmakers that the request was in response to an ‘urgent and necessary’ need to replenish military stocks. Republicans in the Senate have not yet reached agreement on a strategy for dealing with the package. The Administration’s overall defence budget request for the next financial year totals a record $1.5 trillion and includes tens of billions of dollars earmarked for missile development. However, the proposal is at a standstill as Democrats oppose this massive increase, leaving the Pentagon without a clear path to restocking essential weaponry.

Ever since the ‘Signalgate’ incident – in which Hegseth sent confidential information to a chat group that included a journalist just a few months after being confirmed in his post – rumours have been circulating about how long the Defence Secretary will remain in Trump’s good graces. The President has consistently praised Hegseth, stating that he looks as though he has stepped straight out of a ‘film casting’ and that he ‘loves war’.

Since taking office, Trump has launched military operations in seven countries: Yemen, Somalia, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria and Venezuela. The success of the operation to capture Venezuela’s former strongman Nicolás Maduro appeared to have further consolidated Hegseth’s position. But the stalemate in the Strait of Hormuz, coupled with the enormous costs and the protracted nature of the war against Iran, has undermined Trump’s confidence in him, said one of the people with knowledge of the conversation at Camp David. “Secretary Hegseth is not going anywhere and will continue to work side by side with Under-Secretary Feinberg to implement President Trump’s programme,” said Parnell in response to questions about that exchange and the depletion of ammunition.

Pressure on stockpiles is not a new challenge. Even before the war began, Caine had warned Trump that the United States did not have the stockpiles necessary to sustain a prolonged conflict. But the pace and sheer volume of munitions consumed by both sides rapidly accelerated the depletion of key US offensive and defensive munitions. Between 28 February and 7 April – the date marking the first day of the ceasefire – the United States struck over 13,000 targets in Iran. It also intercepted more than 8,500 incoming Iranian munitions or drones. The United States launched Operation Epic Fury whilst already facing critical ammunition shortages.

In the summer of 2025, they used up more than a quarter of their total stockpile of THAAD interceptors during the 12-Day War in Israel and Operation Midnight Hammer, in which US forces struck Iranian nuclear sites. The current conflict “has further exacerbated these shortfalls”, said Brad Bowman, an Army veteran and senior director at the Foundation for Defence of Democracies. Although Hegseth and the Pentagon have announced numerous new framework agreements with industry to replenish the stockpile, defence companies “will not start producing anything until they have a contract and congressional appropriations”, said Bowman. Consequently, it could take years for stocks to be replenished. “It often takes years from the time the necessary funding is allocated, through to the signing of contracts and delivery,” he said. “You can’t just flick a switch and suddenly have ammunition in the hands of the troops.”