Ambassador Mike Waltz dismisses concerns over depleted U.S. weapons stockpile amid war with Iran

Mike Waltz, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” Sunday that the U.S. has “everything that it needs” for military operations against Iran, dismissing reporting that U.S. weapons stockpiles are depleted. “I want to be crystal clear: The U.S. military, and I’ve verified this every which way, has everything that it needs to conduct this campaign as effectively as it needs to be,” he said. “And I have to tell you, the people that are leaking this nonsense deserve to be in jail.” He was responding to questions about an NBC News report that U.S. military commanders are allowing some Iranian attacks through U.S. defenses as part of an effort to preserve the Pentagon’s weapons supply, according to two senior U.S. officials. NBC News has also previously reported that U.S. weapons stockpiles are diminishing as the war with Iran continues. Waltz initially argued that stockpiles were depleted during the Biden administration. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth “inherited a depleted situation from not only Ukraine, but also the ongoing fight with the Houthis under the Biden administration and a depleted military under the Biden administration,” Waltz said. The military under the Trump administration, he said, has decided that “one, they’re going to new types of munitions, cheaper munitions, new technologies, but also with these new defense budgets, rebuilding our great military.” The White House and the Pentagon didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Hegseth appeared before lawmakers last week to ask for $67 billion in supplemental funding to expand production and speed up delivery of weapons. During a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing in April, Hegseth acknowledged in an exchange with Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., that it could take “months and years” to rebuild the weapons stockpile. In a separate interview with “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker, Kelly referred back to that exchange, saying that the situation was “by their own making.” “They’re not keeping track,” Kelly said. “They, at this point, this president and the people around him are incompetent.” Asked whether he would vote to approve the supplemental funding, Kelly said he has not yet made a final decision. “If we had some competent people running this department, you could figure out, how do you defend our nation in a way and give the troops what they need within a reasonable budget?” he said earlier. “What they’re asking for is not reasonable.” In recent days, the U.S. launched nearly two weeks of consecutive nightly attacks on Iran. Trump has told reporters that the U.S. is still “talking to them,” but Iran and its proxies have continued strikes on ships, snarling global trading routes. Asked whether Trump has decided against escalation amid the pause in consecutive strikes, Waltz said he “wouldn’t go that far at all,” adding that “the president is keeping all options on the table.” “What the president is doing right now, as we’ve seen all along, is giving some talks some space,” Waltz said. “Talks are ongoing, they’re happening at every level.” On Saturday, a journalist for the French media outlet LCI reported that she asked Trump whether he was considering resuming full-scale war with Iran. She said that Trump replied that “if we don’t get 100% of what we want, absolutely.”