President Trump Invokes Law to Produce More Weapons After Iran War Depletes the Arsenal

The months-long war with Iran has severely depleted the nation's stockpile of weapons, forcing the Trump administration to invoke a law designed to increase production. This is what you need to know about this critical stockpile and where it stands now.

Trump Instructs Hegseth to Replenish Weapons Stockpile

President Donald Trump announced this week that he has invoked the Defense Production Act in an effort to replenish the country's weapons stockpile. The piece of legislation requires defense companies to produce more weapons when instructed to do so by the president. While it is not surprising that the conflict with Iran has taken a toll on the nation's reserve of weapons, it is still a noteworthy event when a president has to lean on the legislation.

The president signed the document last week, noting that "conditions exist which may pose a direct threat to the national defense or its preparedness programs.” The document, sent to U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, also details that  "systemic constraints in the munitions industrial base, including limited production capacity, fragile supply chains, long-lead dependencies, and related production bottlenecks, may impair the ability of the United States to produce, sustain, and expand the availability of munitions, missiles, and equipment required for the national defense."

Trump invoked the order on June 11, instructing Hegseth to “provide for the making of voluntary agreements and plans of action to help provide for the national defense.” The news was not surprising to many defense experts. For example, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine warned before the war with Iran began that a lengthy military campaign in the Middle East could deplete the country's weapons stockpiles.

It is rare for a president to take the step to require private companies to boost their production of weapons. As such, it is likely that the Trump administration is concerned about the weapons stockpiles after the war with Iran. In addition to the most recent battles with Iran, the Pentagon has lost weapons during the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine.

The Pentagon has not been shy about expressing its worries about the ability of the Department of Defense (DOD) to produce weapons at a fast enough clip to keep up with demand. The war with Iran simply amplified these concerns as the U.S. military blew through a significant amount of its key missile stockpiles in a short amount of time.

President Trump confirmed this concern on Wednesday when he admitted that the last two days of the war resulted in the loss of about "$200 million worth of bombs." Trump made the comments while speaking at the G7 summit in France.

Conflicting Information from Hegseth and Trump

Trump and Hegseth have presented conflicting accounts about the state of the U.S. weapons stockpile. Over the last few months, Hegseth and other top officials at the Pentagon continued to assert that the military had what it needed to successfully win the battle with Iran and in other areas of the world.

In fact, Hegseth told CBS News' Margaret Brennan on Sunday that there was no weapons availability crisis in the U.S., saying that the issue is simply a "manufactured story that the media wants to peddle." However, these comments were made just three days after Trump signed the order that invoked the Defense Production Act, an action that would not have been necessary if there were ample weapons in the stockpile.

A recent analysis provided by the Center for Strategic and International Studies reported that the U.S. used at least 45% of its Precision Strike Missile stockpile, in addition to about half of its stockpiles of THAAD missiles and Patriot air defense interceptor missiles. The Pentagon has not corroborated these numbers, instead choosing to refer the questions to the White House.

The Defense Production Act was passed in the 1950s, intended to serve as the “primary source of presidential authorities to expedite and expand the supply of resources from the US industrial base to support military, energy, space and homeland security programs.” According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the act gives the president the authority to require companies to prioritize military contracts that are necessary for the nation's defensive capabilities. The act also creates an incentive for companies to produce these materials while also granting the federal government the power to broker deals with private companies to reach these stockpile goals.

Trump also used the act during the COVID-19 pandemic when the virus first began circulating. However, rather than weapons production, the act mandated the swift production of items such as ventilators. The president also leaned on the act at the start of his second term to encourage domestic mineral production.

On a different note, former President Joe Biden invoked the act to accelerate the production of clean energy technologies in the U.S. These examples demonstrate the varied uses of this powerful tool at the president's disposal.

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