US President Donald Trump has dismissed reports that the United States is facing shortages of missile interceptors and other munitions, while saying his administration is giving diplomacy with Iran another opportunity before considering further military action.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Trump said the United States still possessed substantial ammunition stockpiles despite reports suggesting inventories of certain munitions had declined.
“We have a lot of ammunition, different types,” Trump said.
He attributed the reduction in some weapons stockpiles to large-scale military assistance provided to Ukraine under the previous Biden administration.
“Biden gave a lot to Ukraine, and so we’re building that up. But we have a lot. We have a lot of the mid-level stuff too. I mean, more than we could ever use,” he said.
Trump added that the United States was rebuilding its military supplies “very rapidly”.
Diplomacy given another chance
Trump’s remarks came after reports that his administration had delayed a potential large-scale military campaign against Iran amid concerns over diplomatic efforts and the impact of declining US munitions stockpiles.
In an interview with Axios, Trump said he had decided to pause military strikes to allow negotiations with Iran to continue, but stressed that expanded military operations remained an option if diplomacy failed.
“We are in very deep talks with Iran. If they don’t work out, we will go back to very strong military action,” he said.
When asked how much time he was willing to give negotiations, Trump replied: “Not much time. Either it goes fast or not at all.”
Regional mediation influences decision
Trump said he decided on Friday to pause military action after mediating countries and other regional governments urged him to give negotiations another opportunity.
“All of the people that deal with Iran asked me: ‘Don’t fire,'” he said, adding that he believed Iran wanted to reach an agreement.
He said agreeing to the request carried little risk, describing the decision as one where “nothing gained, nothing lost”.
Trump also noted that oil prices declined and stock markets rose after the planned attacks were halted.
Military action remains on hold
According to the reports, Trump ordered the US military on Friday to suspend planned strikes against Iranian targets along the country’s southern coast and around the Strait of Hormuz.
The decision followed a meeting with senior advisers and military officials, who had presented a new operational plan.
Reports also indicated that Trump had been leaning towards resuming major military operations in the days leading up to the meeting before changing course on Thursday evening. His decision to halt the planned strikes was finalised on Friday.
