As the US pauses the war with Iran, is Trump really running out of weapons?

US President Donald Trump, speaking earlier this month at the Pennsylvania Defense and Innovation Summit flanked by defence CEOs, urged faster weapons production. He stated the US already has the best quality but needs more speed. The summit was framed as part of a two-pronged approach to revitalize American industry and bolster warfighting capabilities—or, as Secretary of War Pete Hegseth put it, the "arsenal of freedom."

Largely unspoken, however, is the vast expenditure of sophisticated munitions during nearly 40 days of intense combat against Iran in Operation Epic Fury and subsequent tit-for-tat strikes. The US government says the war has cost $37.5 billion (£28 billion), with the vast majority spent on munitions.

By the time a tenuous ceasefire took effect on 8 April, US forces had struck over 13,000 targets across Iran, according to the White House. American air defences intercepted more than 1,700 Iranian drones and ballistic missiles over the same period.

Now, the US has paused its strikes on Iran to allow negotiations to go ahead. A New York Times report says Trump was advised to shelve plans to escalate the conflict as it would further drain American stockpiles. On Monday, Trump denied there was a shortfall, telling the Wall Street Journal: "We have far more munitions than anyone in the world, and far more than we need."