White Hose officials say Pentagon chief is lying to Trump: 'Exactly what he wants to hear'

While the White House has attempted to present a unified front when it comes to messaging around the war with Iran, the Atlantic reports that behind closed doors, Vice President JD Vance has expressed concerns that the Pentagon is misleading the public and the president about aspects of the conflict. According to two senior administration officials, Vance has been asking questions about the depletion of weapon stockpiles and whether Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has been honest with President Donald Trump about the matter.

While Hegseth and General Dan Caine, who chairs the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have declared that American weapons stockpiles are robust, Vance is not so sure, raising concerns about munitions shortages to the president and other national security officials. According to experts, he may have good reason to worry, as the think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies says the U.S. may have already gone through half of its pre-war supply of four key weapons.

“The consequences of a dramatic drawdown in munitions reserves are potentially dire,” writes the Atlantic. “U.S. forces would need to draw from these same stockpiles to defend Taiwan against China, South Korea against North Korea, and Europe against Russia.”

According to Vance advisors who spoke with the Atlantic, the vice president has so far attempted to avoid making the matter personal, presenting his concerns as his own rather than directly accusing Hegseth or Caine of lying to the president. While he has asserted that Hegseth is “doing a great job,” one White House official revealed that he is asking a lot of questions behind the scenes. “Some of Vance’s confidantes,” says the Atlantic, “believe that Hegseth’s portrayal has been so positive as to be misleading.”

Vance advisors suggest evidence of this in two forms. First, Trump’s tendency to echo Hegseth’s more positive statements, such as declaring that U.S. stockpiles are “virtually unlimited.” Second, the timing of many of those statements: typically at 8 a.m., which Trump is known to watch Fox News. “Pete’s TV experience has made him really skilled at knowing how to talk to Trump, how Trump thinks,” one former Trump official told us.

Said another, Hegseth “strives to tell the president exactly what he wants to hear. I think that’s dangerous.”