Restocking the Pentagon
Middle East and North Africa
Welcome back to Foreign Policy’s Situation Report, where we’re gearing up for our next on-the-road edition! John and Rishi will be on the ground at the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, next month. Drop us a note if you’ll be there too and would like to dish or if you know someone we should meet. (U.S. President Donald Trump has already confirmed he will attend.)
Alright, here’s what’s on tap for the day: Trump pushes U.S. weapons-makers to step up production, Hegseth pushes out a top general in Europe, and more discomfort between Trump and Republicans on Iran war powers.
Welcome back to Foreign Policy’s Situation Report, where we’re gearing up for our next on-the-road edition! John and Rishi will be on the ground at the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, next month. Drop us a note if you’ll be there too and would like to dish or if you know someone we should meet. (U.S. President Donald Trump has already confirmed he will attend.)
Alright, here’s what’s on tap for the day: Trump pushes U.S. weapons-makers to step up production, Hegseth pushes out a top general in Europe, and more discomfort between Trump and Republicans on Iran war powers.
The missiles have stopped flying between the United States and Iran (for now) after they signed a memorandum of understanding last week ending the monthslong conflict. Now begins the reckoning of how much of the U.S. arsenal was depleted and how to build it back.
The numbers don’t make for encouraging reading—Adm. Brad Cooper, the head of U.S. Central Command, said during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing last month that the U.S. military had used nearly 14,000 strike munitions, with the Defense Department estimating at that time that the Iran war had cost a total of $29 billion.
A new report on Tuesday from the Center for Strategic and International Studies estimated those numbers to be significantly higher when including munitions used in air defense weapons such as the Patriot and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) systems.
Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg reportedly told lawmakers last week that the military would need $80 billion to cover the total cost of the war.
The Pentagon........
