Trump claims US has more weapons inventory than ever, but assessments suggest otherwise
Written by admin on May 1, 2026
President Donald Trump just claimed that the United States has “tremendous amounts of inventory” all over the world, adding that “we have more than we’ve ever had.”
He criticized his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, for providing Ukraine with US weapons.
However, CNN reported last month that the US military has significantly depleted its stockpile of key missiles during the war with Iran and created a “near-term risk” of running out of ammunition in a future conflict should one arise in the next few years, according to experts and three people familiar with recent internal Defense Department stockpile assessments.
Here’s how much of the US stockpile has been expended over the last seven weeks of war, according to a recent analysis conducted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies:
- At least 45% of its stockpile of Precision Strike Missiles
- At least half of its inventory of THAAD missiles, which are designed to intercept ballistic missiles
- Nearly 50% of its stockpile of Patriot air defense interceptor missiles
Those numbers closely align with classified Pentagon data about US stockpiles, according to the sources familiar with the assessment. Earlier this year, the Pentagon signed a series of contracts that would help expand missile production, but the delivery timeline to replace these systems is three to five years even with the increased capacity, the CSIS experts and the sources said.
CNN’s Zachary Cohen and Natasha Bertrand contributed reporting.
