Report: Trump Reportedly Pressed Defense Secretary Over U.S. Missile Shortage

According to a report published overnight Thursday by The Washington Post, President Donald Trump expressed intense frustration last week while staying at Camp David and demanded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth explain an alleged shortage of advanced munitions. According to the report, the shortage could limit Washington's military options against Iran.

According to the report, Trump sought to understand why, in his view, he had been presented with an inaccurate picture of the ammunition stockpile. The White House, however, unequivocally rejected the report and described it as baseless.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said: "I was at Camp David with President Trump and Secretary of Defense Hegseth. This simply never happened, and we told The Washington Post that over and over again." She added, "This false story was spread to many media outlets by someone who was clearly trying to hurt the Secretary of Defense, for whatever reason. Unfortunately for them, the President loves the Secretary and thinks he is doing a great job. Fake news!".

Alongside the denials, Trump publicly addressed talks with Iran during a speech in Las Vegas that focused primarily on American economic issues. Regarding negotiations with Iran, he emphasized: "We're talking, let's see what happens. We're hitting them with tremendous force. I'd prefer to make a deal, because I don't want to kill people. But at some point we're going to have to do it."

He later revealed how far preparations had advanced, in his view, for the possibility of a military confrontation: "We were ready for the biggest attack of all attacks, and they had already been hit very hard in recent months. We were ready for the biggest attack since World War II — and then they called."

Asked why he believes a diplomatic move with Iran might succeed this time, after several previous attempts failed to produce an agreement, he replied briefly: "Maybe it will. Maybe it won't."

Trump again stressed that, from his perspective, the military threat is not merely theoretical: "I think the threat... I mean, it was already far beyond a threat. We were ready to go." He said, "People know when you're really ready to act and when you're just bluffing. We were ready, and we're still ready. We have to do it."

The American president also addressed the possible impact of an escalation with Iran on the energy market: "We may have to raise them again. You know what happens when we raise them, but we hope we won't have to do that."

Near the end of his remarks, Trump attacked Abdul El-Sayed, the pro-Palestinian Democratic Senate candidate who won Michigan's primary this week: "Even last night, the polls were wrong. They thought it would be a landslide victory for a man who hates Jews and hates Israel." He said the polls published before the election were incorrect and that he believes the Democratic candidate will lose in the general election.