Defense industry leaders are bracing for a tense encounter at the White House this week as President Trump escalates pressure on weapons manufacturers to ramp up production. The heads of roughly seven major defense contractors are expected to face direct demands from the president to accelerate output of missiles and munitions for the Pentagon, according to people with knowledge of the planned meeting.
Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg is slated to attend. The gathering comes as Trump has privately expressed frustration over depleting American missile stockpiles, a concern that has only intensified following recent military operations and ongoing tensions with Iran.
One person with insight into the planned meeting characterized it as something that "is going to be ugly," in part due to Trump's mounting irritation over the state of U.S. munitions supplies.
The missile shortage has become a central headache for Pentagon planners. The U.S. has burned through vast quantities of weapons during military operations over the past year, draining reserves that experts say now need urgent replenishment. The drain accelerated after the U.S. and Israel launched military operations against Iran that began February 28, an operation known as Operation Epic Fury.
A White House official stated there is no such meeting currently on the president's official schedule, though the gathering could still take place, be rescheduled, or be canceled altogether. The Pentagon declined to comment.
Stockpile concerns have only deepened since the U.S. began supplying Ukraine with weapons systems in 2022. More recently, military operations against Iran have further strained reserves. Congressional estimates suggest the Pentagon requires an additional $20 billion in funding simply to begin manufacturing enough missiles to restore stockpiles to pre-Ukraine aid levels.
The production crunch has forced painful choices. The U.S. has already taken munitions away from stockpiles positioned in Europe and Asia to meet immediate demands for the conflict with Iran, a reallocation that raises fresh concerns about American readiness against other potential adversaries.
Despite widespread alarm about dwindling supplies, the Pentagon has not signed any new, multi-year contracts for missile production since Trump took office in January, according to reporting from May. While the Defense Department has negotiated "framework agreements" with manufacturers, none of these arrangements include actual binding contracts to produce additional munitions. Current production work consists mainly of older contracts signed years ago.
A think tank analysis conducted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies earlier this year found the U.S. running dangerously low on weapons overall. The study flagged particular shortages in long-range precision weapons, including Tomahawk cruise missiles, joint air-to-surface missiles, Patriot air defense systems, and terminal high-altitude area defense interceptors.
The numbers tell a stark story. Before Iran operations began, the U.S. had roughly 3,100 Tomahawk missiles on hand. The military has already expended approximately 1,000 or more of those. Even if new production contracts were signed immediately, CSIS estimates it would take more than three years to produce replacement Tomahawks.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has dismissed concerns about stockpile levels, while a White House spokeswoman countered that the military possesses sufficient munitions and ammunition "to serve all of President Trump's strategic goals and beyond." She noted that Trump has urged contractors to "constantly produce more made-in-America weapons."
The House Appropriations Committee unveiled a proposed defense spending bill exceeding $1 trillion this week, with munitions production emerging as a central priority in deliberations.
Trump himself claimed in March that the U.S. possesses a "virtually unlimited supply" of weapons, a statement that stands in sharp contrast to the alarm being sounded by military officials, independent analysts, and lawmakers who have examined the actual numbers.
Author Sarah Mitchell: "Trump's about-face on defense procurement exposes how quickly campaign rhetoric evaporates when reality meets empty arsenals."
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