Donald Trump insists he’s ‘extremely happy’ with Pete Hegseth as other Republicans turn on the secretary of defense and his approval rating declines

President Donald Trump publicly defended Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, declaring himself “extremely happy” with Hegseth’s performance even as a growing number of Republican senators voice open doubts about the Pentagon chief’s leadership and his approval ratings slide amid the ongoing war with Iran.

Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social that “the Fake News, as usual, is spreading false and completely unfounded rumors,” adding that he was extremely happy with Hegseth’s work. He said everything had been extraordinary, pointing to the U.S. military operation in Venezuela, which he said produced results in under a day and led to the capture of former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. Trump also claimed Iran had been “decimated” and said the war, which began in late February 2026, was going very well.

The Camp David confrontation

Trump’s public show of support came after the Washington Post reported that the two men had clashed on July 31, 2026, during a Cabinet meeting at Camp David in Thurmont, Maryland.

According to the report, Trump confronted Hegseth over concerns that he had been misled about the severity of munitions shortages limiting American military options against Iran. Two people familiar with the exchange said Hegseth defended himself by blaming Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg for the shortages and for failing to keep Trump fully informed.

CNN reported separately that Trump had privately complained in recent days that disclosures about the dwindling U.S. munitions stockpile made the country look weak at a critical moment in negotiations with Iran, according to senior U.S. officials.

Six sources familiar with the Camp David meeting said the topic of low munitions stocks was front and center during the session, with a frustrated Trump raising media coverage of the issue directly. One administration official told CNN that Trump had never blamed Hegseth personally and instead placed responsibility on those leaking details of the meeting to reporters.

The White House moved quickly to reject the Washington Post‘s account. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who said she was present at Camp David, called the report “100% fake news” on social media and said it never happened.

Pentagon chief spokesman Sean Parnell said Hegseth did not mislead anyone about the country’s munitions posture and did not blame Feinberg, adding that Hegseth “isn’t going anywhere” and would continue working alongside his deputy.

Trump’s public defense

Trump slammed the Washington Post directly, writing that he believed its reporting was “treasonous.” He vowed to hunt down those he characterized as leakers behind the reports, an accusation he repeated across multiple Truth Social posts on August 5 and August 6, 2026. Trump also described Hegseth as “highly respected within the Military” and insisted the Iran war was going very well.

Trump additionally pointed to Hegseth’s role in what he called a successful strike on Iranian nuclear and military infrastructure as evidence of the defense secretary’s effectiveness. The president’s public defense followed a pattern established earlier in the conflict; in late July 2026, when asked whether he was frustrated with Hegseth’s early advice on Iran, Trump said the defense secretary had done a great job and had been among the first officials to back military action against Tehran.

Munitions depletion at the center of the dispute

The underlying dispute centers on the depth of America’s weapons shortages after more than five months of sustained combat operations. The lack of interceptor missiles has begun altering how the U.S. military decides whether to use munitions against incoming threats, based on assessments of where a threat is heading, a tactical shift first reported by NBC News. While the administration has announced new production agreements for some of the most critical munitions, including Patriot air defense missiles, officials have acknowledged that production can take as long as two years, leaving no immediate relief for current shortages.

Reuters and CBS News reported that the military had burned through nearly all of its offensive Army Tactical Missile Systems and Precision Strike Missiles, which experts said could force reliance on riskier close-range and aerial attacks if the conflict escalates again. A separate CNN report on dwindling Patriot and THAAD interceptor levels raised additional concern among experts, who noted there is no viable short-term substitute for those air defense systems.

Republican discontent builds on Capitol Hill

The Camp David dispute landed against a backdrop of mounting Republican unease that had been building for weeks before the reported clash became public. Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina delivered the sharpest rebuke from a GOP lawmaker, telling The Hill that he no longer had any confidence in Hegseth, describing him as lacking the organizational experience to run the Pentagon while pushing out senior military leaders.

Tillis, who is retiring from the Senate, pointed to what he called strategic miscalculations, including a failure to anticipate the prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s willingness to strike U.S. allies such as Jordan, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Tillis, who cast the deciding vote to confirm Hegseth during his original nomination, said there is a growing crisis of confidence in Hegseth’s leadership within the Senate Republican conference.

Multiple GOP senators, granted anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, told The Hill that concerns about Hegseth’s standing were spreading from within the Pentagon itself to Capitol Hill. One senator close to defense policymakers said the unease runs deep inside the building Hegseth leads, describing a loss of confidence originating within the Pentagon that has since reached lawmakers on the Hill.

Collins, Capito and Ernst add to the pressure

Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins of Maine called the departure of senior military officers “deeply troubling” and requested more information about the administration’s strategy and endgame for the war during a committee hearing. Collins specifically raised the forced retirement of Army General Chris Donahue, the top U.S. commander in Europe and Africa, telling the panel that the officers being pushed out had volunteered to serve the country and sworn an oath to the Constitution.

The Newsweek report on the broader Republican backlash noted that West Virginia Senator Shelley Moore Capito and Iowa Senator Joni Ernst have also warned Hegseth that public patience with the unresolved conflict is wearing thin, joining Tillis and Collins in signaling discomfort with the administration’s handling of the war as it entered its sixth month.

Funding request faces resistance

The Republican backlash has emerged as the administration seeks additional military funding, with Hegseth telling senators the conflict has already cost $37.5 billion, including projected expenses through September.

The criticism now threatens Trump’s effort to secure an additional $73 billion for the Pentagon and intelligence agencies, as lawmakers question the costs, strategy and public fatigue surrounding the war.

Tillis argued that leadership turnover under Hegseth has made planning more difficult, telling reporters that a leader needs people smarter than himself in the room and comparing effective leadership to serving as air traffic control for talented subordinates.