Donald Trump launched into a foul-mouthed tirade against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth about the Iran war just weeks into the conflict, it has been revealed.
Hegseth and several other top military officials were called into the Oval Office in April as Trump demanded an update on the war, which the president had assured the American public would be over by then.
During the tense showdown, Trump handed Hegseth a printout of a New York Times article saying the U.S. was rapidly draining its munitions stockpiles, including more than 1,200 Patriot interceptor missiles that cost more than $4 million each, in the first few weeks of the conflict alone.
“What the f--- is this?” Trump said to Hegseth as he handed him the printout, sources told TIME.
Hegseth tried to dismiss the report—which also claimed that the U.S. had been forced to obtain military supplies in Asia and Europe, exposing commands to potential risks from Russia and China—as “fake news” that exaggerated the numbers to make the U.S. look bad.
However, the figures reported by the Times, including that the military used more than 1,000 Tomahawk cruise missiles in the Iran war—roughly 10 times the number it currently buys each year—were based on internal Defense Department estimates.
Both the White House and the Pentagon have said the reported exchange between Trump and Hegseth did not happen.
“President Trump has full confidence in Secretary Hegseth, who always gives him fulsome, accurate information,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly told the Daily Beast. “The United States Military has enough munitions and ammo to serve all of the Commander-in-Chief’s strategic goals and beyond.”
Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell added the report is “completely made up, with more anonymous sources that don’t exist.”
The U.S.’s rapidly dwindling stockpile has been an issue throughout the Iran war, which has dragged on for more than seven months with no end in sight.
Trump and the Pentagon have frequently denied that the U.S. is facing a severe weapons shortage due to the Middle East conflict.
In August, The Washington Post reported that Trump and Hegseth had clashed at the Camp David retreat, with the president furious at the defense secretary because he thought the munitions problem “had been fixed.”
The same month, the 80-year-old president warned on Truth Social that those who had been leaking “these treasonous statements are being hunted down” and that “long term jail sentences will be sought!”
Voter backlash to Trump and the deeply unpopular Iran war is one of many factors that could doom Republicans in the Nov. 3 midterms.
Administration officials are already bracing for major turmoil if the GOP loses control of both the House and Senate.
A source close to Trump told TIME that the president is weighing whether to fire FBI Director Kash Patel and has “expressed frustration” with the constantly embattled Hegseth.
Trump also warned that he may dramatically escalate the war in Iran and launch a new wave of bomb attacks after the midterms if a deal with Tehran is not reached.
“Because by annihilating Iran, we’ve created peace in the world,” Trump told Time. “With Iran, I don’t think you could ever have peace.”
