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Trump says he is happy with Hegseth after ‘treasonous’ reports of fight over munitions shortages
President Trump took to Truth Social to express his full support for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, dismissing a Washington Post report of a heated confrontation over munitions shortages as 'treasonous' and 'fake.' The White House press secretary also rejected the story, while officials confirmed Trump had been aware of munitions concerns for months.
President Donald Trump publicly endorsed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday, calling his work "extraordinary" and dismissing as "treasonous" a Washington Post report that the two clashed at Camp David over a severe munitions shortage. In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote that he is "extremely happy" with Hegseth's performance, citing the operation that removed Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela and U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear and military infrastructure as evidence of success.
Coverage comparison
The Washington Post reported on Wednesday, citing a source, that Trump confronted Hegseth at Camp David on Friday, saying he believed the munitions issue "had been fixed" and felt misled. The same source suggested the shortage contributed to Trump's decision not to launch what he described as "the biggest attack since World War II" on Iran over the weekend.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt rejected the account in a post on X/Twitter shortly after it was published, writing, "This literally never happened." She added, "This B.S. story was shopped to many outlets by someone clearly out to disparage the Secretary, for whatever reason. Unfortunately for them, the President loves the Secretary and thinks he's doing a tremendous job."
Trump had also pushed back on the report in an earlier Truth Social post, claiming the U.S. has "massive amounts of 'munitions'" and that additional munitions were being manufactured and shipped as needed. He also wrote that long-term jail sentences would be sought for those who had made statements about the dwindling stockpile.
Key claims
Trump's denial: Trump said he is "extremely happy" with Hegseth and characterized the Washington Post's reporting as "fake 'reporting'" and "treasonous."
The Washington Post report: The report, citing a source, alleged that Trump confronted Hegseth at Camp David over the munitions shortage. The source also linked the shortage to Trump's decision not to launch a large-scale attack on Iran.
White House denial: Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt rejected the report as false, saying it "literally never happened."
Munitions levels: Trump claimed the U.S. has "massive amounts of 'munitions,'" while a Reuters report on Tuesday said the U.S. Army has used up "virtually all" of its stockpile of highly accurate long-range missiles during its five-month war with Iran.
Specific figures: The Reuters report detailed that the U.S. had fired more than 850 Tomahawk cruise missiles, over 1,000 Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missiles, and at least 1,300 tactical ballistic missiles in the first month of the conflict with Iran. The Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMs) stockpile was reportedly drained to the extent that "basically none" is left.
Impact on Ukraine: Between February and July, the U.S. used around 65% of its Patriot interceptors, leaving the country unwilling to supply Ukraine with the defense system. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the shortage of interceptor missiles "encourages Russia to launch such attacks that take human lives."
White House awareness: White House officials confirmed to CNN that Trump had been aware of potential problems with munitions for months and was not blindsided by the situation.
How this outlet told it
Jerusalem Post
Framing: Trump disputes Washington Post report on clash with Defense Secretary — Defensive and dismissive of the report's claims
Facts Included:
Trump's statement on Truth Social about being 'extremely happy' with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's work
Trump's denial of the Washington Post report about a clash with Hegseth at Camp David
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt's rejection of the report
Trump's claim that the US has 'massive amounts of munitions'
White House officials' confirmation that Trump was aware of potential problems with munitions
Framing: Trump unaware of extreme munitions shortage, report claims — Investigative and critical of the Trump administration's handling of the munitions shortage
Facts Included:
The Washington Post report on Trump's confrontation with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at Camp David
The US Army's use of 'virtually all' of its stockpile of highly accurate long-range missiles during the war with Iran
The impact of the munitions shortage on Ukraine
Ukrainian President Voldymr Zelenskyy's statement on the shortage of interceptor missiles
Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status counts the distinct outlets we found asserting it — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.
Claim
Confidence
Status
ClaimUS President Donald Trump said that he is 'extremely happy' with the work of US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
ClaimThe Washington Post reported that Trump confronted US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at Camp David, saying that he thought the munitions issue 'had been fixed,' and that he felt he had been misled.
ClaimThe US had fired more than 850 Tomahawk cruise missiles and over 1,000 Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAD) missiles, and used at least 1,300 tactical ballistic missiles in the first month of the conflict with Iran.
ClaimThe munitions shortage has an impact beyond the US-Iran conflict, with the Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMs) stockpile drained to the extent that there's basically none left.
ClaimBetween February and July, the US had used around 65% of its Patriot interceptors, leaving the country unwilling to supply Ukraine with the much-needed defense system.
ClaimUkrainian President Voldymr Zelenskyy said that the shortage of interceptor missiles 'encourages Russia to launch such attacks that take human lives'.