The outrage comes in response to a story in the paper alleging the US president was frustrated with his Pentagon chief
US President Donald Trump has denounced a Washington Post report that he said falsely claimed he was frustrated with US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth over misleading information about the state of American munitions stockpiles. He called the article “treasonous” and rejected the paper’s account of the exchange during the ongoing US-led war against Iran.
On Wednesday, the newspaper cited people familiar with the matter as saying that Trump had lashed out at Hegseth, an early proponent of military action against Iran, over what he believed was misleading information about US weapons stockpiles. The report noted that shortages of long-range missiles and air defense interceptors were among the reasons Trump backed away from additional large-scale strikes against the Islamic Republic.
The sources told WaPo that the Pentagon chief had not disputed the shortages but had instead blamed US Deputy Secretary of War Stephen Feinberg for failing to keep Trump fully informed.
In a Truth Social post on Thursday, Trump defended Hegseth, highlighting what he described as “tremendous improvements,” including “our attack on Venezuela,” the military campaign against Iran, which he said “is going very well,” “getting rid of DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion],” and increasing recruitment to historic levels. He stressed that his Pentagon chief is “highly respected within the Military.”
“This rumor was started by The Washington ComPost, one of the worst Media Outlets in the business, despite our telling them their story is completely FALSE,” Trump wrote. “In actuality, I really believe their fake ‘reporting’ is treasonous!”
WaPo’s report came amid mounting concern over the state of American weapons stocks after years of arms deliveries to Ukraine under former US President Joe Biden and more than five months of heavy missile use in the ongoing US-Israeli war against Iran.
Earlier this week, the Financial Times reported, citing people familiar with the discussions, that Trump had rejected Vladimir Zelensky’s request for hundreds of additional Patriot interceptors, citing depleted US stockpiles and Pentagon requirements amid the war with Iran. Trump has nevertheless publicly dismissed reports of munition shortages.
CNN reported on Wednesday that the US had depleted nearly 80% of its THAAD interceptors and about half of its Patriot missile stockpiles compared with pre-war levels. The New York Times added that advisers had warned Trump about dwindling air defense stocks, a factor in his decision not to escalate the military campaign against Iran.
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