Vice President JD Vance denied reports that he’s concerned about the impact of President Trump’s war with Iran on U.S. weapons stockpiles before confirming moments later he actually is concerned.
The Atlantic reported this week that in closed-door meetings, Vance, 41, “has repeatedly questioned the Defense Department’s depiction of the war in Iran and whether the Pentagon has understated what appears to be the drastic depletion of U.S. missile stockpiles.”
When asked by Fox News host Will Cain on Wednesday whether he was in fact concerned about the U.S. government’s missile stockpiles, the president bashed The Atlantic’s reporting before appearing to confirm it.
“Most of these reports I ignore. This one I actually read because it ascribed views to me and things that I had allegedly said that I am just 100 percent certain I have never said,” he said.
The story quoted “advisers” to the vice president, which Vance claimed could refer to anyone from staffers he sees every day, to a random person off the street who he’s spoken to once.
The Atlantic described its sources as “two senior administration officials.”
“What I feel confident about, Will, is that nobody who actually knows what I think, nobody who’s close to me was speaking to that reporter, because if they did, then it would be a totally different story.”
Except, it turns out, he is in fact concerned about the weapons stockpiles.
“To answer your question, Will, of course I’m concerned about readiness, because that’s my job to be concerned,” he said.
Vance insisted that he thinks Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine are “doing an amazing job” in Iran.
But, he said, “It’s of course my job to ask these questions, it’s of course my job to make sure we’re on top of every issue.”
He then concluded: “Don’t believe everything you read, especially in papers like The Atlantan” [sic].
Caine and Hegseth have publicly said that U.S. weapons stockpiles are robust, despite evidence that over the past two months, the military has burned through more than half of its prewar inventory of key munitions, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Those are the same stockpiles that the U.S. would need to draw from to defend Taiwan against China, South Korea against North Korea, or Europe against Russia.
At the same time, Hegseth in particular has also overstated the damage done to Iran’s military, compared to the findings of intelligence assessments, sources told The Atlantic.
The vice president has presented his concerns to the president as his own personal views, as opposed to accusing Hegseth or Caine of misleading the White House, his advisers said.
The piece included a statement from Vance saying the Pentagon chief is “doing a great job,” citing Hegseth’s work to ensure a “warrior ethos” in the military’s top ranks.
A White House official said Vance “asks a lot of probing questions about our strategic planning, as do all of the members of the president’s national-security team.”
Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell previously told the Daily Beast in a statement that Hegseth and Vance “share an outstanding working relationship grounded in deep mutual respect and alignment.”
The Pentagon’s leadership “consistently provide the President with the complete, unvarnished picture so he can make the best choices for America’s security and success,” he added.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told the Daily Beast that Trump “loves Secretary Hegseth” and thinks he is “doing a phenomenal job.”
