Secretary of War Pete Hegseth traded blows with CBS' Margaret Brennan on "Face the Nation" Sunday, claiming that the U.S.is not facing a shortage of weapon stockpiles despite testifying before Congress that it could take months or years to rebuild reserves of certain weaponry.The back-and-forth began when Brennan asked whether Hegseth was in favor of allowing Ukraine to produce their own Patriot missile interceptors.
Hegseth did not directly answer the question, replying that America’s stockpiles are "great" and "only getting stronger."Brennan said there was a "a crisis with those stockpiles right now in private industry."HEGSETH DISMISSES ‘FOOLISH’ US STOCKPILE CONCERNS AS IRAN CONFLICT TESTS MUNITIONSSecretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks at the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore on May 30, 2026.(Edgar Su/Reuters)"That is a manufactured story that the media wants to peddle," Hegseth responded, prompting Brennan to remind Hegseth that he testified before Congress that it could take "months and years" to rebuild military stockpiles depending on the specific weapon in question."You don't have to read back to me what I testified.
I speculated some munitions take more time than others," Hegseth replied."We've got lots of them.
We're building more than ever before.The Biden administration gave away hundreds of billions to Ukraine.
And so President Trump had to refill, and he has."HEGSETH SAYS PENTAGON WILL REVIEW MARK KELLY'S PUBLIC STATEMENTS ABOUT CLASSIFIED BRIEFING AMID ONGOING FEUDU.S.Secretary of War Pete Hegseth departs a state banquet hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on May 14, 2026.
(Alex Wong/Getty Images)An April report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) found that U.S.forces used large shares of several critical munitions during the air and missile campaign against Iran, including more than 850 Tomahawk cruise missiles and more than 1,000 Joint Air-t...