US President Donald Trump has rejected reports that months of war with Iran have depleted American weapons supplies, saying the United States is instead increasing its munitions stockpiles.
Trump made the statement in a post on Truth Social on Tuesday, accusing those raising concerns about US ammunition supplies of spreading false information.
“The cowards and traitors would love to say the United States is low on munitions. It’s not true,” Trump wrote.
“We have more munitions than we could ever possibly think of using, and are building them up now at levels we have never seen before,” he added.
Trump’s comments came after a Pentagon inspector-general report said the war with Iran had resulted in “strategic inventory shortfalls” in US munitions and exposed bottlenecks in the defence industrial base.
The report, which examined US military operations through June 30, said the Pentagon was working to accelerate procurement and production and build up supplies of critical materials, components and munitions.
It identified persistent bottlenecks in the production of solid rocket motors, the availability of high-grade explosives and propellants, and the recruitment of skilled manufacturing workers.
The Pentagon has disputed the inspector-general’s assessment, saying the watchdog did not have access to all relevant information and that the US military had the capabilities required to carry out operations ordered by the President.
Trump has previously rejected reports of dwindling US weapons supplies during the conflict, insisting that the country has sufficient ammunition and is producing munitions at unprecedented levels.
The debate over US stockpiles has intensified as the conflict with Iran enters its seventh month, with American forces having used large quantities of missiles and other munitions during the campaign.
The Pentagon inspector-general’s report said replenishing some weapons could take significant time because of production constraints across the US defence industrial base.
