White House, Pentagon Reject Report Of Trump-Hegseth Clash Over Weapons Stockpiles

By Sabiu Abdullahi

The White House and the Pentagon have denied a report that claimed United States President Donald Trump confronted Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over the country’s weapons stockpiles during a recent meeting.

The Washington Post reported that the alleged exchange took place at Camp David during the sidelines of a Cabinet meeting. The newspaper cited two unnamed sources who claimed to be familiar with the discussion.

According to the report, President Trump became dissatisfied after he was informed that shortages of long-range and interceptor missiles had not been resolved. It also alleged that Trump told Hegseth he believed the problem had already been fixed. The report further claimed that Hegseth responded by indicating that Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg was responsible for the issue.

The White House has, however, dismissed the report.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt described the claims as “100% fake news” and said the alleged confrontation never happened.

She also stated that President Trump continues to have “the utmost confidence” in Hegseth.

The Pentagon also rejected the allegations.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said Hegseth neither misled the administration about the level of US munitions nor attempted to shift responsibility to Feinberg.

Parnell also dismissed claims that the United States had depleted weapons stockpiles. He rejected reports of internal disagreements within the Defense Department and disputes over policy toward Iran. He described all the allegations as entirely false.