Trump invokes law to increase weapons production after Iran war depleted US stocks | CNN Politics

President Donald Trump has invoked the Defense Production Act to force defense companies to manufacture more weapons after the war with Iran depleted stockpiles In a document signed last week, the president says that he finds “that conditions exist which may pose a direct threat to the national defense or its preparedness programs.” “In particular, systemic constraints in the munitions industrial base, including limited production capacity, fragile supply chains, long-lead dependencies, and related production bottlenecks, may impair the ability of the United States to produce, sustain, and expand the availability of munitions, missiles, and equipment required for the national defense,” the document, sent to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, says. It’s a significant move for the president to compel private companies to increase production and suggests a substantial level of concern in the Trump administration about the Pentagon’s weapons stockpiles following the war with Iran as well as the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine which saw the US contribute weapons to Israel and Ukraine. The Pentagon has long had concerns about the defense industry’s ability to produce weapons qui