US President Donald Trump says he will find and jail anyone who leaked information about how low America's weapon supplies have gotten during the US-Israeli war on Iran. "The 'leakers' of these treasonous statements are being hunted down," he wrote on Truth Social on Thursday. "Long-term jail sentences will be sought!"

The threat came after Reuters and CBS News reported that the US military had used up nearly all of its long-range guided missiles during the conflict. These are missiles that can hit targets far away with high accuracy. Reuters reported on August 4 that the US had used "virtually all" of its long-range precision missiles in the Iran war, though sources would not say exactly how many were left. Trump launched the war jointly with Israel in February 2026.

A CNN report on Tuesday added more detail. It said the US military had used up 80 percent of its THAAD interceptors and about half of its Patriot interceptors. Interceptors are defensive missiles designed to shoot down incoming enemy missiles before they reach their targets. Sources called the remaining levels "dangerously low" Al Jazeera. THAAD and Patriot systems are the main tools the US uses to defend against ballistic missile attacks.

Trump dismissed the reports outright. "The US has massive amounts of 'munitions,' especially of certain types," he wrote on Truth Social. He told the Wall Street Journal: "We have far more munitions than anyone in the world." Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth separately described the CNN reporting as "not true."

Independent assessments broadly align with the leaked figures, however. The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a research group, calculated on July 27 that the US military had just over a third of its Patriot interceptors left and about half of its THAAD interceptors. Retired Marine Corps Colonel Mark Cancian, who helped write that analysis, said current interceptor levels are weakening the US ability to deter attacks. "If we run out of Patriots, then the missiles get through," Cancian warned Al Jazeera.

The reporting has also revealed tension between the president and his Pentagon chief. The Washington Post reported on Thursday that Trump confronted Hegseth during a cabinet meeting at Camp David, accusing the defence secretary of misleading him on munitions shortages Washington Post. White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt dismissed the account as "100 percent fake news."

These depletion concerns matter because of the administration's broader stance on Iran. In February 2025, Trump signed a directive restoring a "maximum pressure" campaign against Iran, declaring it US policy that Iran be denied both a nuclear weapon and the long-range missiles needed to deliver one. By June 2025, the White House said Iran's nuclear facilities had been "obliterated," with Trump declaring "Obliteration is an accurate term!" based on satellite imagery. In April 2026, the administration described a "decisive" campaign aimed at destroying Iran's offensive military capabilities. The White House has also published a video stating Trump said "we have a deal that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon."

Looking at the budget, the Trump administration has proposed a $1.5 trillion defence budget for fiscal year 2027, a 44 percent increase, with part of the money earmarked for buying large quantities of advanced munitions Al Jazeera. That proposal suggests the administration recognizes it needs to restock, even as it publicly disputes how bad the shortages are.

The broader context here is that the gap between what officials say publicly and what classified assessments reportedly show is itself a problem. If the CSIS and CNN figures are roughly correct, the US would enter any prolonged conflict with a thinner defensive shield and fewer offensive missiles. If the administration's denials are right, then the leaked reports are either disinformation or a worst-case reading of secret inventory data. Either way, the situation affects how much US allies trust American military protection and how closely Congress can oversee wartime spending.

There is also a civil liberties dimension worth noting. Trump's decision to call the disclosures "treasonous" and threaten long prison sentences could mean an investigation targeting national security professionals and military officials who may have shared information about wartime readiness with the press. The contrast is hard to miss: the same week the president demands accountability for leakers, his own defence secretary faces reported accusations of misleading the commander-in-chief about whether the weapons are running dry.