The Trump administration's response to reports that the U.S. is running low on pinpoint missiles arrived right on schedule: deny everything, then threaten prison time for whoever leaked it.
Donald J. Trump took to Truth Social to insist the U.S. has "massive amounts" of munitions, that defense contractors are building factories at a record rate, and that the people responsible for what he called "treasonous" leaks about the shortage are "being hunted down," with long jail sentences to follow. Is it weird that I read that in Jeanine Pirro's voice?
The leaks in question are the Reuters report C&L covered, which found that six months into the war in Iran, the U.S. has burned through nearly its entire stockpile of ATACMS and PrSM missiles — the same long-range munitions being sent to Ukraine. Sources briefed on the matter reportedly can't even give a solid number on what's left, because there's so little left to count.
That's not exactly a new denial. The White House already told Reuters the country has "far more munitions than anyone in the world," and Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell insisted the military has "everything it needs."
What's new is the part where the President promises to jail whoever told reporters otherwise — which is, itself, a pretty good confirmation that the story touched a nerve.
As we noted previously, the administration insists everything is fine, actually. The White House says the country has "far more munitions than anyone in the world," courtesy of a statement from Trump touting defense contractors running at record production. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell backed him up, insisting the military has "everything it needs" and has pulled off "multiple successful operations across combatant commands."
Their 'trust me, bro' denial doesn't hold water since Trump reportedly got into a heated exchange with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth over being misled regarding the shortages.


