President Donald Trump on Thursday railed against legacy media outlets reporting munitions shortages due to the Iran war.
Several news outlets, citing unnamed sources, reported that the U.S. is experiencing a significant shortage in interceptor missiles and other ammunition in Europe because of the military campaign against the Iranian regime.
Trump addressed this in a post on Truth Social. “For the treasonous SCUM that refuses to accurately report on our Military Operation in Iran, we have virtually unlimited amounts of Mid to High Grade Ammunition, far more than we could ever use for this, or for any other War (which is highly unlikely!), that could improbably take place,” he wrote.
He continued, noting that the U.S. is “producing Munitions at levels never seen before” and that the White House is “stockpiling and preparing for any contingency that could happen.”
We are taking them for ourselves, the U.S.A., rather than selling them to others, but the sales to Allies will soon again, begin. Also, please let it be known, that the Biden Administration gave far more Munitions away to Ukraine, at no cost to them, whatsoever, than we have used in Iran. Hundreds of Billions of Dollars was given to Ukraine and NATO, free of charge, that Europe would have paid for — If they were only asked, but we will be asking for that money, though somewhat belatedly!
The Associated Press is one of the media outlets that reported on the shortage. The report claims Ukraine does not have enough Patriot missiles to defend against further Russian aggression.
The U.S. military is experiencing a “beyond critical” shortage of advanced missile interceptors in Europe largely driven by President Donald Trump’s war with Iran, a U.S. defense official in Europe and a NATO official told The Associated Press, raising concerns about vulnerabilities in NATO countries to a potential Russian attack.
The U.S. defense official said the most concerning shortfall involves Patriot missile interceptors, which can shoot down Russia’s high-speed ballistic missiles. The NATO official confirmed the low inventories of Patriots among American and NATO forces in Europe. Both spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military matters.
In the event of a Russian ballistic missile assault on, for example, a military headquarters or power plant, NATO could be in a similar position to Patriot-starved Ukraine and be forced “to take punch after punch in the mouth,” the U.S. defense official said.
In Europe, the American military “definitely” does not have enough Patriots to stop any possible sustained ballistic missile attack and would have “very limited” capability to defend against a single ballistic missile strike or a stray Russian missile that goes off course, the U.S. official said.
It illustrates the cascading fallout from Trump’s decision to launch a war against Iran, a conflict that reaches the six-month mark on Friday. U.S. missile stocks in Europe have been moved to the Middle East, where U.S. and Gulf allies have fired off significant numbers of interceptors, including Patriots, to thwart Iran’s drones and missiles. Some of those attacks have killed and wounded American troops.
Direct military engagements intensified around the Strait of Hormuz after U.S. forces launched airstrikes against Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island. The strikes took place when Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) personnel were seen preparing to launch sea mines into the waterway.
“In essence, Iran created the threat and the U.S. military eliminated it to protect civilian mariners, commercial shipping, and the free flow of global commerce,” according to the U.S. Central Command.