Trump Angry About News of Thinning Weapon Supplies, Pentagon Holds Emergency Meeting

U.S. President Donald Trump/DOK The White House

JAKARTA - The United States Department of Defense (Pentagon) will hold an emergency meeting to discuss the shortage of weapons following an angry phone call from US President Donald Trump to Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg.

NBC, citing several sources, reported that the meeting was attended by high-ranking military officials as well as officials in charge of procurement of military equipment.

Previously, The Washington Post reported, citing its sources, Trump asked War Secretary Pete Hegseth for an explanation of the missile shortage at a cabinet meeting at Camp David earlier this week.

However, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt denied the report and called it untrue.

The report also said Hegseth accused Feinberg of not providing information about the condition of the weapons inventory.

On June 24, the White House submitted a request to Congress for additional funding of 87.6 billion US dollars, including 67.15 billion US dollars for the Pentagon.

Most of the funds were allocated to cover the cost of US military operations related to Iran.

At the end of July, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) estimated that the United States had used more than 1,500 missiles for the Patriot air defense system and about 200 interceptor missiles for the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) air defense system.

According to CSIS, this condition causes the United States to face a significant missile shortage.